Mumbai office complex becomes power self-sufficient with 808 rooftop aluminium solar panels

The Arcade, a large office building in Mumbai, has become the first self-sufficient commercial building in the country in terms of power generation and supply by installing as many as 808 solar panels, all made of aluminium. Spread across 25,000 square foot roof, the aluminium solar panels are capable of generating 250 kilowatt peak power (KWp) thereby reducing the total annual electricity bill of the building by 30 per cent. Moreover, the rooftop power generation system is connected to the city's grid, which means that electricity produced on a holiday goes to feed the public electricity supply system.

“Solar power is attractive because it is abundant and offers a solution to the negative effects of fossil fuel emissions and global climate change,” said Kamal M Morarka, chairman, WTC Mumbai. “With the demand for energy rising exponentially, the entire state is undergoing a transformation in how it generates electricity.”

The commercial complex is named after Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, a manufacturing industry stalwart. With such a novel installation the building has shown how the city can make good use its vast rooftops, and save money and reduce its environmental footprint in the process.

The aluminium solar panels, designed and built by Maxwell Solar and Wind Energy Pvt Ltd, generate 900 kilowatt hour (KWh) solar energy per day which adequately caters to all electrical consumption for the three-storeyed building. Each aluminium panel generates 310 watt and uses poly crystalline technology.

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“The panels will generate a total of 3 lakh KWh solar energy annually. After incurring the initial cost of INR1.75 crore, we will be saving INR45 lakh every year after four years through this mode of energy consumption,” said Dinesh Sharma, Director Engineering, WTC.

"With net metering system, if the complex generates 27,000 units of electricity per month and the requirement was 25,000, the excess 2,000 units would be carried over to the next month and so on,” said an official from Maxwell Solar and Wind Energy pvt Ltd.

Scientists are of the opinion that the use of such a novel system of renewable energy will help Mumbai minimise its pollution level and carbon emission. “It is the need of the hour for large commercial buildings, educational institutions and housing complexes to switch to solar. More rooftop solar projects will have a significant impact in reducing fossil fuel emissions,” observed National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) Director, Rakesh Kumar.