The Indian city of Agra, former capital of the Indian subcontinent and home of the Taj Mahal, is to become the country’s first solar city.
The Indian government’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has approved plans to build 2,000 kWp of capacity in the city, around 10% of it’s current consumption, which will come from a variety of sources. These include over 1.5 million gallons of heated water per day, 6400 solar street lights, 4600 solar cookers, and 20 solar traffic lights.
The overall budget for creating India’s first solar city is estimated at $100 million, of which 70% will be shouldered by the private sector and 27% by the government. This includes both the installation of renewable energy technologies and the introduction of complimentary energy efficiency schemes. Over 30% of the planned energy savings will come from installing solar water heating into homes while another 35% will come from domestic energy efficiency measures like phasing out incandescent light bulbs and upgrading air conditioning and refrigeration units.
The plan is scheduled to run for 5 years which fits in well with national plan to generate 1172 MW of solar energy by 2016.
