Bengaluru: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has instructed all its affiliated schools to install solar panels to generate environmentally sustainable energy. Some schools have already installed solar panels as a power back up option and some are installing them, while others are planning to.
The CBSE’s August 14 notification asks affiliated schools to install solar panels on rooftops and vacant and unused areas on the campus to meet their power needs and as a power back-up option.
The notification has come as a challenge for schools that face a fund crunch. A school principal told Deccan Chronicle that the CBSE should have considered the practical difficulties of all its affiliated schools before issuing the notification. “Using renewable energy sources is highly commendable, but the expenditure involved in installing solar panels is not small. This initiative is good in the long run, but mandating it now is impractical,” he said on condition of anonymity.
Institutions like Delhi Public School (East), which had taken steps to go solar even before the notification, have plans to extend it further. Students are also asked to audit and compare power usage at home and school, said Ms Manila Carvalho, principal of DPS (East). “We have set up 100 KW solar rooftop panels and are planning to add more. The lights used on the campus were already solar-powered for more than a year now,” she said.
President of the Managements of Independent CBSE Schools Association M. Srinivasan said that installation of solar panels will avoid disruption of work due to power cuts. “Using solar energy will also add life to equipment, including expensive computers and other machines, used for learning. Frequent power cuts delay and disturb work done at schools,” he said. He said that the CBSE notification should be seen only as an advisory and not as an order. “Schools that are not financially well-off should not be harassed by the authorities,” he said.
