The amount of solar energy falling on the Indian Subcontinent is more than twice the yearly, global power requirements.
Our need to adopt alternative, renewable sources of energy is known by even primary school students. Every science textbook has stressed about enough on that. Along with that, we hear news of global carbon emission control and global warming and what not, every single day through newspapers or mass media.
Solar Energy and Solar Power systems have emerged as one of the most effective, although less widely chosen the alternative. While power consumption requirements of many industries and cities have shifted from using thermal energy to hydroelectric power there is yet a lot to do. Besides, the large infrastructural establishments that hydroelectric power plants require come with their own plethora of issues.
Solar Power systems, on the other hand, can be used for both, large scale to a small scale use. Whether it is an industrial power grid or be it a single, small panel over a street light, solar panels can be utilized everywhere.
The most effective use of solar power systems currently, would be by schools and colleges. The benefits of a Solar Power Plants for Schools and Colleges are many and here, we have listed a few of them.
- Usable roof: The first drawback of solar power system would be finding an ideal place for installation. In a city, the site for establishing a solar panel plant is limited but school or college rooftops are about as good as it can get. The roof is usually flat and expansive and in general, have no practical use, for the students are more often than not, prohibited from going there. This provides the institution with an ample amount of area that is ideal for the installation of solar panels.
- Reduced Cost: Apart from the initial installation cost, on-site solar panel system is perhaps the cheapest source of energy. Even maintenance cost is extremely low when it comes to solar panels. As such, within a year or two, not only do the institutions recover their initial installation expenditure, they also save an ample amount of money from electricity bills that can be better utilized elsewhere.
- No power cuts or generator usage: During the summer months especially, there is a huge issue of load shedding and long power cuts, neither of which is conducive for an educational environment. Although most schools or colleges use generators to compensate for that, the diesel used so is an added expenditure. On-site solar power system will not only do away with the problem of load shedding or power cuts but also bring down the cost, especially the money spent on diesel for the generator, to almost one-third of the original expenditure.
- Make Solar Power more common: Every school going child knows about different kinds of renewable sources of energy. They might have visited a dam or a beach but for most, solar panels remain a picture in their textbook; a huge area of land studded with hundreds of massive panels in the middle of a bright countryside. For most, it is still an option to be considered in the future. However, if the institutions use solar panels to meet their everyday power requirements, hundreds and thousands of students will use it every day, knowing that solar panels are indeed a viable option for their use. They will grow up or graduate, knowing that solar power is as effective as any other source of energy and will more readily walk towards a future where renewable sources of energy are in use.
There are still many reasons why an effective solar power plant for schools and colleges is an important step in the right direction. These, however, are the most tangible benefit an institute can observe. Schools and Colleges that adopt solar power system are institutes that are exemplary when it comes to doing something substantial for the world that we live in. For them, Environment Day is not about making posters but about bringing a true change for Mother Earth’s benefit.