By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, February 16, 2019: Odisha government will soon run the whole of the secretariat on solar power, officials said.

The secretariat, at present, partially runs on solar rooftop panels. However, the plan to run the secretariat with solar power was mooted at a high-level meeting of the science and technology department held recently chaired by chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi

Padhi asked the officials to take steps to make the entire secretariat an energy-efficient building before replicating the same in other buildings.

The science and technology department will conduct mapping of the rooftop and assess the alignment of solar panels. It is exploring the option of installing solar rooftop panels instead of a solar energy plant, which require a huge space, at the secretariat, the officials added.

The power load of the secretariat was about 1,850 KW per month, of which 265 KW is generated from the existing solar panels. Experts said with complete migration to solar energy, the secretariat would be able to save Rs 20 lakh a month it currently pays to Cesu.