Mysore Palace to house Solar Energy Park

In future it is not merely the beautiful gardens, marvelous architecture, illumination and temples of Mysore Palace that will draw the attention of tourists but another attraction will be soon added to the list, an energy park, powered entirely from solar.

The world-famous Mysore Palace which attracts thousands of tourists every year will soon house a solar energy park at the North East side of the Palace. The park to be set up at the entrance of Jaya Marthandaiah Gate at an investment of Rs 50 lakh, will be funded by Central Government under SADP programme of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). Similar parks will be set up at Dariya Doulath in Srirangapatna and Channakeshava Temple in Somanathpura near T Narasipura at a cost of Rs 25 lakh.

The parks are being setup as part of an initiative by the Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL) to educate people about benefits of using solar energy for domestic and commercial applications, alongside various other forms of non-conventional energy. The energy park houses solar lights, solar garden lights, solar huts, solar TV, solar cookers, solar toy cars and solar hut among many others. To aid farmers, models of solar photovoltaic water pumps will also be displayed in the park.

5kw of Solar Photovoltaic will be placed above the roof of bamboo-based solar hut from which about 20 unit of power will be generated per day. The generated power will used to run fans, television, garden lights, street lights, and many more. Apart this, from the 900 watt solar PV pump water will be pumped for garden purpose.Through Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant (Solar Hut) people will be educated about storing energy and how to run household appliances using only solar energy. According to sources, the hut being set up similar to Bangalore Energy park consisting of a weighing machine, television, refrigerator and a computer running on captive power of solar energy.

Mysore Branch Office KREDL Project Engineer DK Dinesh Kumar said, Mysore Palace, Dariya Doulath and Somanathpura were selected for the development of energy park, as it attracts lakhs of tourists every year. “As Mysore is one of the cities selected under model solar city project, the park when set-up will be very useful to educate people about solar energy,” he added.