Panasonic Life Solutions India (PLSIND) has announced the recent commissioning of its 7 MW AC Solar power plant built on an EPC basis for Gro Solar Energy at Degoan, Taluka Sindakhede, District - Dhule in the state of Maharashtra. The project is spread over 50 acres of land and has 30,300 “Anchor” make of Polycrystalline solar modules “Made in India” installed along with string Inverters to maintain a high uptime. The energy produced from this plant is evacuated at the nearest substation that would help to power homes across multiple villages in the vicinity and provide the much-needed daytime power to the farmers for irrigation activities in their farms.
After the regulatory approvals, Gro Solar Energy has signed a PPA with MAHAGENCO through a PSA with MAHADISCOM. This project is under the Government of Maharashtra’s “Mukhyamantri Saur Krishi Vahini Yojana” to energize the agricultural feeders in the state of Maharashtra. This project will add approximately 15,891MWh solar energy and assist in eliminating a total of 14,300 tons of CO2 emissions over lifetime of this plant.
Amit Barve, Business Unit Head of Solar Business, Panasonic Life Solutions India said that, “The commissioning of 7 MW AC project is a significant achievement for us, especially during tough pandemic conditions. Excellent support, mutual trust, and coordination with Developer, Gro Solar Energy was the reason behind the smooth and fast execution of this project”.
“We aim to enhance our sustainability practices by adding the possibility to reap agriculture yield by planting low-height guava, lemongrass, and a few other crops between solar module tables by extending the pitch and the height. It will not only lead to agriculture yield but also help save the water utilized for cleaning, ensure a less dusty environment, and maintain a reduced ambient temperature. Further, this results in higher gains in solar power plants”, said Gulabsing Girase, one of the Directors of Gro Solar Energy.
It is a state-of-the-art designed Agro-voltaic project. Agro-voltaics consists of using the same area of land to obtain both solar energy and agricultural products. In other words, solar panels co-exist with crops on the same surface. After the project is fully developed, it will act as a model for Agro-voltaic projects in India. Gro Solar Energy plans to start agricultural activities in 2022.
