Haryana’s Sirsa district to have solar street lighting in villages

CHANDIGARH - Haryana’s Sirsa district will be the first district in the country to have streets in all villages illuminated by solar street lighting system, state Power and Renewable Energy Minister Mahender Partap Singh said Monday.

All 333 villages falling in the district, around 300 km from here, will have over 6,660 solar photovoltaic (SPV) street lighting systems installed this year. Each village will get at least 20 SPV lights.

The Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA) has got the Rs.126 million (12.65 crore) project sanctioned from the union ministry of new and renewable energy.

“The project would not only help in meeting the power requirements during power cuts, but would also create awareness among the public of generation of power through SPV technology,” Singh added.

“These systems would work from dusk to dawn. The complete system, including battery, would bear warranty for two years. Thereafter, the systems would be governed by three years comprehensive maintenance contract, which would cover the supply of spare parts and services during its tenure,” the minister said.

After the contract ends, the systems would be maintained by village energy committees headed by the village head (sarpanch) of the village concerned by arranging funds from the panchayat funds.