To conserve energy under the ‘Solar City’ initiative, the UT Administration has proposed several measures for both residential and commercial areas of the city.

Under the initiative, the Administration is aiming to conserve 10 per cent energy in residential and commercial areas in the next three years. This number is likely to touch the 20 per cent mark by 2018. “The measures discussed in the final plan will definitely have an impact. We will be able to conserve energy by adopting certain basic measures,” Director (Information Technology) Manjit Brar said. The final plan prepared by the Administration recommends the following measures:

RESIDENTIAL AREAS

Residential areas in the city are major consumers of electricity. The current consumption of the residential sector is 497 Million Units (MU) — 39 per cent of the total electricity consumption in the city — which is growing.

CONSERVATION MEASURES PROPOSED

* Replacing the conventional T-12 (40 watt) copper ballast tube lights with T-5 (28 watt) electronic ballast tube lights. This would save about 42 per cent energy per tube light.

* Replacing the conventional ceiling fans, which consume (70-80 watt), with fans which consume 50 watt. This would save 37 per cent energy per fan.

* Replacing the existing unitary air-conditioners with BEE-labelled air-conditioners

If these measures are implemented, the total energy consumption would reduce to 397.6 MU from the current 497 MU in one year.

However, by the end of this year, only 5 per cent of the devices are expected to be replaced with energy efficient ones. And by then, the consumption would be 572 MU, which is expected to touch 924 MU by 2012.

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