Governor Dr A R Kidwai today said that solar energy was the way ahead for India, and could help enormously in meeting our growing demand for power. Dr Kidwai, who was addressing the people after inaugurating the newly-constructed environment-friendly building of the Institute of Rural Research and Development at Gurgaon, said that in view of availability of solar energy in the country, Government of India had formulated a project to set up solar generators to generate 50 MW of electricity. Out of these, solar generators of 12 MW would be set up in Haryana. “Presently, generation of one MW electricity from solar energy costs Rs 20 crore, as the silicon cells used are imported from Germany. If these cells are manufactured in India, the cost can come down considerably,” he said.However, even as generating electricity from solar energy costs about Rs 15 per KW, consumers have to pay only Rs three per KW, thanks to the subsidy provided by the state and the Central government. The Governor also informed of the accordance of permission for installing solar panels on the roofs of two factories in Gurgaon.
