Nearly 5,500 economically underprivileged households in Bathinda city are set to get free solar power generation infrastructure under a novel initiative of the Punjab government.
In the first-of-a-kind project, the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA), state’s nodal agency for promotion and development of renewable energy programmes, the beneficiaries will be relieved from paying electricity bills.
In the first phase, about 5,500 households would be equipped with the infrastructure and an equal number is expected to be benefited in the next stage of project execution.
The state government would spend around ₹60 crore on the pilot project of an off-grid solar system. It would include solar panels, battery, charge controller, grid box, inverter and mounting structure.
PEDA additional director Jaspal Singh said the work to install solar panels is expected to start within a week as all formalities have been completed. It will be a maiden initiative to bring people closer to renewable energy resources, he said.
“Panels store enough sunlight during the day and use the excess power generated in the night or during a power outage. It will further reduce the load on power transmission,” said a district official familiar with the project.
The ambitious project was pushed by the finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal for his constituency.
{{/usCountry}}The ambitious project was pushed by the finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal for his constituency.
{{/usCountry}}In the run up to the local body elections in February this year, Manpreet had announced the pilot for the benefit of the underprivileged.
In-charge of Manpreet’s political office in Bathinda Jaijeet Singh Johal, who is overseeing the implementation of the project, said the households with poor financial backgrounds who do not enjoy free power supply by the state, would be given a priority. The work of installation of solar panels will start from Friday, said an official from the finance minister’s office.
“The finance minister has directed PEDA to ensure installation of 100 units every week. Beneficiaries will also include tenants on the basis of house-to-house assessment in a transparent manner,” said Johal.
Officials said the off-grid solar systems work independently of the power grid but have batteries that can store solar power generated by the system. The off-grid system does not allow a subscriber to sell excess power to the utility but it can be used by the household.