Solar power lights up Gandhi Hospital

Long hours of power cuts were a problem to the emergency services in government hospitals. The counter it, the government mooted the idea of solar power. The sun has begun to illuminate Gandhi Hospital in Secunderabad, thanks to the solar power initiatives taken by the New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NREDCAP) with the active support of the Central and State governments.

Gandhi Hospital has already installed the newly launched solar grid-connected rooftop systems, while the Osmania General Hospital in Old City and Sir Ronald Ross Institute of Tropical and Communicable Diseases (Fever Hosptal) in Nallakunta are in the process of installing the solar panels.

The installation is being promoted by the NREDCAP, in consultation with the department of health, under the Solar Grid Connected Rooftop Systems scheme by the union ministry of new and renewable energy through the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

“Projects like these are not only demonstrative of what we could do for the country in a planned manner but also serve as reference projects for other government offices to emulate,” said Rajendra Nimje, MD of SECI.

To promote non-conventional energy, the Central and State governments are jointly offering 50 per cent subsidy (30 per cent by the Centre and 20 per cent by the State) on rooftop photovoltaic systems. The ministry of new and renewable energy has sanctioned 5 mw solar power (2 mw for domestic and 3 mw for commercial) for the state this year. Rooftop photovoltaic systems offer a great opportunity to institutions, industries, and other buildings using UPS, inverters, batteries and diesel generators to reduce energy costs and to ensure power continuity in the event of a severe power shortage.

“For domestic consumers, 4 to 5 units of power per day is more than enough and they can save a lot of energy and money in the long run,” said Kamalakar Babu.

“The decision to install solar power equipment in these government hospitals was taken due to heavy consumption of power as patients keep thronging from various parts of the state for treatment. As there is a huge gap between demand and supply, generating solar energy would be very useful in a tropical state like Telangana were the sun shines 300 days a year,” Babu added.

“The hospitals would not be completely dependent on solar power, as the regular supply through power discoms would still be there. As long as the sun shines, the supply would be through solar panels, after which a battery backup of four to eight hours would still be there to face emergency blackouts,” he concluded.