Gujarat’s Swaminarayan Akshardham temple now has ten portable solar rooftop systems complementing its existing 200 kWp solar system to replace the conventional polluting fuels effectively.
Called PV ports, the systems at the temple complex in the Gandhinagar district were installed under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s initiative to develop renewable energy cities across India.
PV Ports are standard plug-and-play photovoltaic systems with a minimum of 2kWp, designed by the German development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). These come with or without battery storage.
Unlike conventional rooftop solar systems, the PV port systems can be easily installed by a single person without the need of rewiring and civil work, and allow the space below the panels to be utilized. The systems are highly cost-effective, require low maintenance, and have a long shelf life of 25-30 years. These are designed for 100% self-consumption and no power is fed into the grid. Each system leads to an average annual savings of INR 24,000 on electricity bills.
The PV ports were manufactured by New Delhi-based Servotech Power Systems Limited (SPSL), a leading manufacturer of high-end solar products, LEDs, oxygen concentrators, and EV charging equipment, under the Make in India project.
“Solar energy has to play an important role in reducing the country’s dependence on conventional sources of electricity. The unique PV Port system is the way ahead for greater adoption of solar power in the country. We are thankful to GIZ and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy for this opportunity to contribute to ushering in a renewable transformation,” said Raman Bhatia, founder and managing director, Servotech Power Systems Ltd.
The PV Port systems were inaugurated in the presence of Shwetal Shah, Advisor, Climate Change Department, Government of Gujarat, officials of GERMI and Swaminarayan Akshardham temple.
“Such collaboration and the resulting synergies are expected to benefit consumers to a huge extent. We are very optimistic that the partnerships will provide us insights to deal with emerging challenges and capitalize on city-level opportunities, which will help us replicate the results in other cities across India,” said Joerg Gaebler, Principal Advisor GIZ.
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