In a country that suffers terribly from electricity load shedding, it is high time it adopted alternatives of the traditional electricity generating methods. One of the most common alternatives is electricity generation from solar power. Since Pakistan gets quite a bit of it, solar energy is, by far, the best option. And people have indeed started shifting to it, albeit slowly and gradually. But if you want something to become common, installing it in prominent places is the way to go. Punjab Govt has possibly adopted the same strategy.
Punjab govt and electricity
People in Punjab had already started using solar panels for electricity generation. If you travel to Punjab, even the smaller rural areas, on each house, you will find 2 to 6 panels. But that is for a small village house. For a structure way larger, the number of panels also increases greatly. So imagine the number when I tell you that the structure is the University of Health Sciences. Moreover, since the university teaches hard sciences, one can safely assume that there must be scientific laboratories that need constant electricity. Such a building has been selected to shift to solar power completely, announced the Punjab govt.
Details of the Solar electricity system
The energy minister, Akhtar Malik, says that this way, they will be able to reduce a huge chunk of electricity costs. The plant to supply the university with electricity will be 1 megawatt.
The minister has issued the order for a 1-megawatt plant, but he has also instructed authorities to finish the energy audit of UOHS in 10 days. This must ensure that the 1-megawatt solar system does not waste if the actual consumption of university requires more electricity.
Image Source: sciencemag.orgBut what led to the Punjab government taking such a decision?
As it turns out, the government has to pay PKR 37 billion just for electricity. Also, there are 95,000 government connections in Punjab. So this is the stepping stone of a greater move; converting all the government connections to the solar model. And Akhtar Malik reiterates it:
“Government connections across Punjab will be shifted to solar to reduce the high energy bills,” said Malik.
Let’s hope that the country sees the advantages of using electricity from a renewable source and not just Punjab, but the whole country adopts this practice. Until then, we will be dependent on the existing modes of electricity generation and used to the nationwide blackouts.
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