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SunEdison ‘Solar Empowers’ Students in Chennai

September 4, 2015

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CHENNAI: SunEdison, Inc. has announced the installation of a 100 kilowatt (kW) solar system on the premises of the Ramakrishna Mission Students’ Home as a part of its Social Innovations mission to bring electricity to 20 million people by 2020. The project will enable the students at the Mission to be more energy independent and, under a net metering arrangement, can raise revenue for the Mission when surplus electricity is generated. The Ramakrishna Mission Students’ Home serves approximately 700 students in the Indian state of Tamilnadu, and has sister organizations throughout the world providing spiritual and educational opportunities as well as medical services to the public.

Reverend Swami Gautamanandaji Maharaj, Adyaksha of the Sri Ramakrishna Math Center inChennai and Senior Trustee and Governing Body Member of the Ramakrishna Math Center and Mission, stated: “The Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission centers in India and abroad always strive to reduce pollution by using clean and efficient technologies. Generating electricity from renewable energy helps mitigate the air and water pollution emitted by coal power plants that is linked to certain health risks.”

“SunEdison is proud to donate and install this 100 kW solar system to the Ramakrishna Mission Students’ Home,” said Pashupathy Gopalan, President of Asia-Pacific for SunEdison. “The system allows the mission to increase its energy independence and frees up resources to help them focus on vocational training and universal education to students.”

The rooftop installation is composed of 345 high performance SunEdison solar panels, and is connected to the state electricity grid. Under the net metering arrangement, the Mission can export excess electricity produced by the solar panels to the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO), powering nearby buildings with clean solar energy.