IIT-Bombay Establishes the First Huge Power Generating Solar Plant on Academic Campus

Going the eco-friendly way, IIT-Bombay has scored one more breakthrough by establishing its own solar plant today. The first phase of 1MW solar photovoltaic power plant at IIT-Bombay will start today, illuminating several departments of the prestigious institution of technology.

The Rs 8.5 Crore project is the first ever solar plant on any academic campus in India.

The remaining two phases of the plant are expected to be ready by the end of March. They are being manufactured by Mahindra EPC. Once the manufacturing of these phases of plant is successfully completed, IIT-Bombay will most likely generate 13% more power than it consumes now.

According to a study, the total of cost of borne by IIT-Bombay reaches whopping Rs. 2 crore mark for consuming about 6, 500 KW of power. With the launch of the  plant, the institute of technology is expecting to cut down on power consumption bills by Rs 50,000 lakh.

This solar plant will generate 1.5 million units of power for next 20 years.

“The cost of solar energy would be approximately Rs4.1 per unit. The institute currently pays almost double the amount under the commercial tariff,” said Prof Chetan Solanki from department of energy science and engineering. He is also also one of the coordinators for the project.

Touted to be the first such huge power generating solar plant on any academic campus in India, it will consist 16 smaller plants each with capacity of approximately 50-100 KW, which will spread over the rooftops of 16 academic buildings in the 550-acre campus. More than 4,000 photovoltaic (PV) cells of mono- and multi-crystal silicon modules are incorporated into these plants.

“Installation on the mechanical, electrical, civil, metallurgical engineering and physics departments and the Victor Menezes Convention Centre are already complete, and will start producing 300KW of power from today (Tuesday). That is equivalent to 5 lakh units per year,” said Prof Solanki.

This post was contributed by Alok kumar Singh, askiitians expert.