In a bid to develop it as solar city, Chandigarh gets its own floating solar power plant

Amid efforts by the government to develop Union Territory Chandigarh, as a solar city, a floating solar power plant pilot of 10 kw peak (kWp) has been commissioned at Dhanas lake. It has been designed to supply power to fountains at the lake for aeration.

The USP is its dual-axis tracking technology that has been developed indigenously, which is capable of generating 30 percent or more power than conventional solar photovoltaic ones mounted on the ground. In a move towards realising the broader objective, Yellow 2 Gen Energy Pvt, which installed the plant recently, has proposed to the Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science & Technology Promotion Society (CREST) for innovative development of the land-neutral solar photovoltaic (floating SPV) plants. Jeevan Mohanty, one of the co-founders and Director of Yellow 2 Gen Energy, said,

The approximate cost of the 10 kWp floating solar power plant designed by Yellow is around Rs 12 lakh

This technological innovation means the platform could be set up on small water bodies for meeting captive energy requirements as well as conservation of lakes and ponds. Highlighting its relevance, Co-founder and Director Vivek said a decision to promote installation of floating solar power plants will benefit states that are grappling with the problem of land acquisition. Co-founder and Director Rakesh Chauhan said,

Yellow’s design has dual-axis tracking, which leads to higher energy generation and makes it cost-effective

The floating power plant in the planned city is yet another attempt to achieve practical and tangible progress in harnessing solar energy and facilitate large-scale generation of electrical energy through solar radiation at economically viable cost.

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The government has earlier chosen Chandigarh to develop it as a model solar city and has an ambitious plan for deployment of 175 GW renewable power capacity by 2022, including 100 GW in solar energy.