Century-old University of Mysore looking for a ‘green’ future

The 32kW rooftop solar panels installed on the building housing the Department of Studies in Physics of UoM on the Manasagangotri campus in Mysuru.

The idea of establishing green campuses is finally taking shape with the century-old University of Mysore (UoM) dedicating its first major solar project as a step towards becoming “energy-rich”, harnessing eco-friendly and clean energy resources. It has embarked upon a plan of adopting renewable energy in a major way, besides turning its expansive and tree-rich Manasagangotri campus in Mysuru, and three other PG centres in Hassan, Mandya, and Chamarajanagar, into green campuses.

The 32kW rooftop solar project developed on the building housing the Department of Studies in Physics is expected to save the exchequer ₹40,000 a month. The cost cut is by way saving on electricity bills and supplying surplus power daily to the electricity company through dedicated feeders.

“The iconic Crawford Hall and the library building here are our next goals. These two buildings will also be getting rooftop solar panels for their energy needs. Likewise, we have identified other buildings on the campus, which consume a lot of electricity because of lab equipment and other devices, to turn them into solar-friendly buildings,” said Vice-Chancellor G. Hemantha Kumar.

Prof. Kumar said the long-term idea is to turn all campuses of UoM into eco-friendly centres of higher learning and to set an example for others on the need to harness renewable energy, especially solar energy.

The library is one of the buildings where a great amount of energy is consumed because of the use of lights by students and research scholars for approximately 15 hours a day. Also, Crawford Hall, the seat of administration, houses many departments, including the office of the Vice-Chancellor. Here, too, the large roof area of the structures is being used to harvest energy from the sun. The university is not availing any grant for these projects.

Around 400 street lights on the Manasagangotri campus run on solar energy. The solar street lights were introduced much earlier and were running smoothly, with their maintenance given to a private firm.

Hemagangotri (Hassan), Suvarnagangotri (Chamarajanagar), and Mandya PG Centre will also get the benefits of the project as solar energy will also harness light there once the projects lined up for Manasagangotri are done, Prof. Kumar said.

Electric buggies were introduced recently at the University of Mysore for ferrying students and visitors to various departments and other facilities at Manasagangotri. The first batch of battery-operated carts was rolled out for operations early this year as part of the green transport initiatives, and more such zero-emission means of transport are planned.