Poor structures trip solar plan
Bhubaneswar: The project to install solar panels on government buildings to harness renewable energy is far from over with the poor condition of several structures coming in the way of its implementation.
In August last year the state government had launched the ambitious solar rooftop project for the twin cities. Several buildings in both Bhubaneswar and Cuttack were identified for installation of solar photovoltaic panels on their roofs to generate environment-friendly energy.
The buildings that were included in the project were state secretariat, Assembly, government hospitals, several parks, high court building, government colleges and other educational institutions among others.
Though the project is approaching its official deadline next month, the authorities are facing problems in installing the solar panels after the public works department found structural deficiencies in the government buildings.
Sources said the authorities had already installed rooftop panels at the secretariat, Jayadev Bhawan, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology and Nirman Soudha. However, the project is facing problems at Capital Hospital, forensic laboratory and the printing press.
“We have inspected all the buildings before giving a go ahead for installation of the panels. Some of the buildings quite old and it was assessed that there could be structural damage if photovoltaic panels are installed on them,” said a senior official of the works department.
Officials said the installation would create a load of 36 kg per square meter on the roof. This might cause puncturing of the roof and also create problems for discharge of rainwater.
“There is need to make the roofs strong first and lower the chances of any incident after installation of the panels,” the official said.
The Odisha Renewable Energy Development Authority (ORDEA) in collaboration with a New Delhi-based firm is executing the project in public-private-partnership mode.
“The field engineers of the public works department have inspected the buildings and given the report,” said an official of the OREDA.
After assessing the reports and problems, principal secretary, energy, Hemant Sharma has written to principal secretary, public works department, Nalinikant Pradhan to intervene in the matter. Sharma assured that the installation would not affect the structures in any manner.
“The height of rooftop mounting structure is optimised to protect it from high winds at the same time enough clearance has been maintained above the roof for free flow of rainwater,” Sharma said.
“The system is flexible and it can be shifted at short notice for repair or grading work of the roof.”
He also suggested that as precautionary measures, joint inspection of the roofs at regular intervals involving developer, building owner, representative of works department and experts from energy department would be done to address issues of maintenance in the future.
Source: telegraphindia
