Solar power can meet 10 percent of city’s needs: Study

According to the report, titled ‘Rooftop Revolution: Unleashing Chennai’s Rooftop Potential’, released on Tuesday, solar sector makes for a solid investment for investors as it would cut down on electricity bills considerably.

The study jointly undertaken by Greenpeace India and GERMI (Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute) had scanned the area under Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC). An average of 3.15 MW per sq km can easily be generated through installing rooftop solar panels. A big share of this, nearly 46 percent, can come from the residential sector, the report noted.

Some of the major landmarks that have a sizeable potential are railway station roofs which can hold 3,582 kW and metro station roofs which can hold 1,696 kW. The Chennai International Airport can host approximately 889 kW of rooftop solar.

“Switching to solar will not only help Chennai reduce air pollution by bringing down its dependence on coal as a source of power, but also help policy makers, planners and installers in Tamil Nadu contribute to the India’s overall rooftop solar PV goal of 40 GW by 2022, which is crucial for India’s voluntary contribution to the Paris Agreement. We need the state government of Tamil Nadu to make it easy for residents of Chennai to adopt rooftop solar PV,” said Pujarini Sen, Climate & Energy Campaigner, Greenpeace India, while addressing a press meet here.