The Bihar School Examination Board has decided to provide 10-kilowatt power to each school under the Centre’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission scheme. “The board is serious about providing solar energy to schools. We are exploring possible options,” a board official said.
According to board officials, there is a Rs 1.25 lakh subsidy for every KW of solar energy for captive consumption in educational institutions.
The board is planning to provide electricity to schools through rooftop solar photovoltaic systems. The system will offset the requirement for grid energy and also provide power backup.
For years, students in Bihar have been sweating it out in classrooms, quite literally because of acute shortage of electricity. But the dim and dreary lessons will soon be a thing of the past. Schools in Bihar are all set to bring solar energy into the classroom, which means no more power cuts and computer classes will be a routine, reports MI Khan.
In power-starved Bihar, solar energy is all set to light up the lives of school children. With the use of solar energy thousands of students will now be able to avail of computer and laboratory facilities, which they have been deprived of because of the acute shortage of power.
“Solar energy will provide more opportunities and work as a miracle for schools and students,” said Anjani Kumar Singh, principal secretary, human resource development department, Bihar.
Singh admitted that acute power shortage in Bihar has been the biggest problem faced by educational institutions, particularly the government-run schools in urban as well as in rural areas. But this all set to change soon.