Solar Power

The Solar Photovoltaic Plant in the Garden

Prabhu Nanjiani demonstrates how solar power is generated

Little known to many, we have a small, fully operational solar power station in the Garden that takes care of its lighting and illumination needs, night after night. Tucked away discreetly close to the China Hut, it has the capacity to generate enough electricity to feed the scores of lights lining the garden, two floodlights and even the equipment used by doctors in the health care unit.
“On a good sunny day, the photovoltaic plant has a capacity to generate 4kw of electricity,” said Prabhu Nanjiani, the main architect of the project. “This is more than adequate at meeting the Garden’s daily needs. On a bad day with persistent cloud cover or heavy rainfall leading to a drop in generation capacity, the system switches to the power grid automatically to make up for the shortfall. Our power bills are now a fraction of what we were spending earlier.”
Set up with an investment of Rs10,00,000 (from the Celebration Club), the plant is connected to a strategically aligned solar panel installed on the roof of a cabin. The plant itself is a compact compartment cramped with dangling wires and large cables snaking around an array of red-and-white batteries while a grey inverter keeps blinking silently in one corner. “Within two years, we should recover our costs (by way of savings) and become self-sustaining,” informed Nanjiani, who is an old hand at energy conservation from the days he worked with the Essar group.
Both Nanjiani and Jagmohan Papneja were all praise for the “vision and dynamism” of the Celebration Club management and in particular, secretary Hemant Nair who has made the project possible. “If nothing, this should at least spread awareness on harnessing solar power and the need for energy conservation in our day-to-day lives,” added Nanjiani.
We owe it to this self-effacing environment warrior for cutting our carbon footprint and turning the Garden into a greener and happier place for us to exercise.
Jagmohan Papneja:
With the trend of falling prices of solar panels, this becomes the first choice for alternate energy. Because of its cost- advantage, the disadvantages can be easily overlooked.
Harish Wadhwa:
Good, bold and a welcome initiative for harnessing solar power to light up the Garden. I think it can stay open for a longer time now during the evenings for benefit of all.