Jharkhand has started equipping hospitals and other healthcare facilities with solar panels in a move to combat power outages that have led to several casualties across the country during the first and the second wave of Covid-19, said officials from the Jharkhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (JREDA).
The Jharkhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (JREDA) has identified about 1400 Government buildings, including Sadar hospitals, Community Healthcare Centres (CHCs) and Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs), for the project, said JREDA project director Vijay Kumar Sinha.
The agency will focus on healthcare centres in the first phase of the scheme in a bid to ensure uninterrupted power supplies to hospitals in case a third wave of Covid-19 hits Jharkhand, Sinha added. “Ensuring uninterrupted power supply to hospitals was a priority for us especially during this pandemic,” said Sinha.
Sources from JREDA said that rooftop solar panels have already been installed in more than 700 of the identified 1400 government buildings and the remaining buildings are also likely to be equipped with solar power within the next six months.
JREDA is also developing a software through which it will be able to monitor the functioning of all the solar panels across the state. Microchips will be installed in each of the solar panels, which will help JREDA engineers identify any glitch in the system without having to move to the location, officials said.
