Engineering Colleges in India Generating Power from Solar PV Plant

Solar power is one of the solution to overcome the energy deficit in the world. This is one of the renewable energy source, and the generation of solar power do not have any adverse effect on the environment. Ministry of new and renewable energy, Government of India, is developing Solar / Green cities all over India under the green initiatives. For this, many of the organizations and institutions have come forward to install solar PV power plants which would at-least satisfy the institute power demand.

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We would mention few of the engineering colleges in India who have installed solar PV plant and generating power from it. The list includes the Engineering colleges who have installed PV plant of at-least 50 KW or more.

1. Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (1.8 megawatt)

IIT Roorkee has the largest solar project at any IIT campus (1.8 MWp rooftop project) and the energy from this solar installation is helping offset the institute’s daytime peak electricity demand from the grid. IIT-R with the installation of 1.8 MWp solar rooftop plant, was able to offset 15% of its energy usage from the state grid thus moving towards a more reliable and greener option and reducing its carbon footprint by almost 2320 tonnes per year [Source]. The solar power plant is used for the following applications [Source]:

• Solar water heating system for use in hostels and residences
• Solar steam system for mess for cooking
• Solar Power Plant for lighting and electricity generation
• Swimming pool heating solution

2. Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (50 + 350 + 1400 kilowatt)

Solar Energy Research Enclave (SERE), IIT Kanpur has established 50 KW Solar PV power station which is generating 250 units of power daily. After setting up this 50 kilowatt solar power plant on the institute campus, IIT-Kanpur is in the process of commissioning a 1,750 kilowatt roof-top solar power plant. While, the 50 KW power plant was meant for research work and had been set up on experimentation basis, the 1,750 KW power plant will be fully used for meeting the power needs of the premier IIT-Kanpur. [Source]

This work is getting done in two phases. In the initial phase, IIT-K has installed four rooftop solar power plants of around 350 kw capacity  in total, spending Rs 2.92 crore [Source]. The second phase (of remaining 1,400 kilowatt) will be taken up later.

3. SASTRA University, Thanjavur (1.25 megawatt)

Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam, former President of India, launched the 1.25 MW roof-top solar power plant installed at SASTRA university by Tata Power Solar on 6^th April 2015 to meet 25% of the University’s power requirement by harnessing solar energy. This is the largest installation of its type in South India [Source].

4. Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (1 megawatt)

As a part of its ‘Green Campus’ initiative, IIT Bombay, is installing a 1MWp (1 MW peak PV power) distributed rooftop Solar PV Power Plant on the roofs of its academic buildings. The 1MWp plant consists of 16 smaller plants each having capacity of approx. 50-100 kWp. With the solar potential of average 5.32 peak sun hours per day and PV power system efficiency of 78%, the 1MWp Solar PV Power Plant is expected to produce average annual energy of approx. 1.4 million kWh for a period of minimum 20 years. The estimated plant capacity factor is 17% [Source].

5. Sharda University (1 megawatt)

One of the largest Solar Power Plant projects that has been installed across North India among educational institutions by Kirti Solar Ltd.  The Power Plant is distributed into 11 building blocks with capacities installed in each block ranging from a minimum of 20kW to a maximum of 200kW and spread across 10,000 Sq. Meter roof area.  The solar PV system is expected to reduce CO2 emissions 1277.5 Tons per year.  The Electricity cost per unit from the grid is about Rs 11 per unit and about 1.4 Cr can save for 1st year and shall increase whilst the current electricity tariff escalates each year.  Average life cycle of a solar PV system is 25 years and the payback period for this system is 4 years.

6. Manipal University (525 kilowatt)

Manipal University has partially shifted from conventional energy use to renewable energy use and sourcing. This is being achieved by installing solar PV rooftop systems on four buildings in the first phase with a capacity of 525 kilowatts peak (kWp) in September 2015. This substantially reduces MUs dependence on conventional energy sources thus mitigating carbon emissions as well as a shift towards sustainable energy use. Adoption of the above initiatives has led to 30% of the University’s power consumption being generated from a renewable source in FY 2015-16. MU also has installed solar powered heaters which are exclusively used for heating requirements. Currently, the total installed capacity of solar heaters is four lakh liters per day thus reducing conventional energy use for heating [Source].

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7. College of Engineering Thiruvananthapuram (430 kilowatt)

The College of Engineering Thiruvananthapuram (CET) had received 1 crore for the first phase of a Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB)-CET joint solar power project. The major component of the project is a 430 kilowatt grid-connected solar power plant that will be established at CET. Phase I involved the establishment of a 134.5 kilowatt plant [Source].

8. RVS College of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore (300 kilowatt)

The 3 x 100kW grid connected solar PV panels are functioning in the campus since 2011. It generates 50 kw of electric power that satisfies the in house electricity needs. More than 30% of electricity demands of the institutions are met by this renewable energy source [Source].

9. National Institute of Technology, Silchar (200 kilowatt)

NIT-Silchar is taking giant strides in the field, with a 200 KW solar power plant and 75 Solar Street Lights have been set up in the institution [Source]. The initial setup for a 100 kWp Solar Power Plant as part of Phase – I in NIT Silchar included installations in rooftops of key areas whose power distribution was done in the order of 20, 30 and 50 kWp. This project was implemented by “Central Electronics Limited”. The capacity of each module installed was 280 Wp and a total of 360 PV modules were supplied. In Phase – II, a 10 x 10 kWp Solar Power Plant is being set up in NIT Silchar by “Agni Power & Electronics Pvt. Ltd” [Source].

10. National Institute of Technology, Arunachal Pradesh (100 kilowatt)

The institute has installed a solar plant of capacity 100 kW in the year 2013 in NIT temporary campus at Yupia, from which the institute is supplied with uninterrupted power supply and has minimized electricity bill to a large extent. Cost of the plant is Rs. 2.47 crores [Source].

11. National Institute of Technology, Trichy (100 kilowatt)

One number of 100 kw solar panels supplied by Vacon India to BHEL EDN Bangalore division has been commissioned at National Institute of Technology- Trichy, Tamil Nadu [Source].

12. Mar Baselios College of Engineering and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram (100 kilowatt)

The 100KW Solar Power Plant [Source] at Mar Baselios College of Engineering and Technology has been installed by Radiant Solar. The Solar Power Plant, with unique design, (combination of Grid Connected and Grid Interactive Solar Power Plant) consists of 100kWp Solar Photovoltaic Modules, 3 numbers of 30kW Grid Connected Inverters, 1 number of 100kW Grid Interactive Inverter (to form an internal grid) with Battery System. In addition, this system can also feed the power back to Electricity Board (Grid) when the internal requirement is less than the generated power [Source].

13. B.V. Raju Institute of Technology, Narsapur, Hyderabad (100 kilowatt)

B.V. Raju Institute of Technology has installed and commissioned a 100 kWp solar photovoltaic rooftop plant.This project is the first of its kind among all the JNTUH affiliated colleges in Andhra Pradesh. The plant consists of a total 400 PV modules each of 250Wp supplied by SIRIUS Solar Energy, Hyderabad, installed at rooftop of Aryabatta Block in BVRIT.

According to Mr. N. Ramchander, the Project Coordinator – “This plant will generate more than 1.5 lakh units every year. Average monthly power generated is approximately 12600 KWH. The plant provides substantial cost savings on the power consumption for the College” [Source].

The Power Plant is set up at a cost of Rs. 1.39 crores. The college would be saving nearly Rs. Three lakhs per month on power bills [Source].

14. Sriram Engineering College, Chennai (100 kilowatt)

Sriram Engineering College installed a 100 KW photovoltaic (PV) solar power plant on their campus. The power plant will produce electricity from solar power. The plant is capable of generating power that meets 25 per cent of the institution’s demands while complying with the two per cent solar power purchase obligation stipulated by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission [Source].

15. Akshaya College of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore (94 kilowatt)

Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering successfully inaugurated Solar Power Plant on 10.12.2015. There are about 408 Solar panels installed and production at maximum will be about 94 KW [Source].

16. MES College of Engineering, Kuttipuram (80.96 kilowatt)

The 80.96kWp Solar Power Plant has been installed at MES College of Engineering, Kuttippuram on 14^th December 2013. The plant is designed for 340 Units per day or average annual energy generation of 1,24,082 kWh/annum. This system can also feed the power back to the Grid when the internal requirement is less than the generated power [Source].

17. Jyothi Engineering College, Thrissur (63 kilowatt)

Jyothi Engineering College, Thrissur has 63KW Grid Connected Solar Power Plant installed by Radiant Solar. The Solar Power Plant Consists of 63.7kWp Solar Photovoltaic Modules, 1 numbers of Imported Leonics make Grid Connected Inverter. In addition, this system can also feed the power back to Electricity Board (Grid) when the internal requirement is less than the generated power [Source].

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Note: This article has been prepared from the information available in internet. No contact has been made to the institute to collect the data. There is a possibility we have picked up bit old data and the particular institute had increased the capacity of the solar power plant in the due course of time. If this is the case, then please let us know in the comment section and send us the correct data with the source of information to the mail-id mentioned below. If we have missed out any institute then please inform us with the valid data.

Email-id: igniteengineers1@gmail.com / editor@igniteengineers.com