Installation of solar panels now mandatory in Greater Noida

Greater Noida will soon make it mandatory for all new constructions to install solar panels to meet atleast 10 per cent of their electricity requirement. This move is in line to meet the guidelines of Smart Cities Mission, Greater Noida  that aims of promoting renewable energy in the city and to supplement electricity supply .

Narendra Bhooshan, the CEO of GNIDA speaking to TOI said “We are in the process of surveying the projects to decide how this will be implemented. We will gradually phase in the use of solar energy. Initially, we will make this provision mandatory for larger commercial or industrial units that are being established.

The private developers will be asked to install solar panels and they will be checked before approving the layout plans. These will also be incorporated in the building bylaws and will be discussed during the board meeting by the end of the year.

These initiatives are a step towards energy conservation and reduction in wastage of energy.

Bhooshan further added, “We will initially test at the GNIDA office building if 10% of the total electricity demand can be substituted by solar energy. It is the most viable renewable or non-conventional energy that can be successfully generated in Greater Noida. Any other source is not successful here with the kind of wind speed we have.”

Last year, a state-run agency in Maharashtra came up with a plan to install solar panels in the backwater of two dams to generate electricity. Jayakwadi dam, located in Aurangabad district of Central Maharashtra, and Ujani dam in Solapur district of Western Maharashtra are the sites of the solar power generation project.