Commercial Solar Case Study : Bosco Public School,50kW

School buildings are one of the most power-consuming buildings in the world. This is because of the number of appliances they have and most of them are switched on at the same time.

In normal schools, we have at least 4-5 tube lights of 40 watts and 4-5 ceiling fans of 75 watts in one classroom. They all run continuously for 5-6 hours. Doing a simple calculation can give us how much power all of these appliances consume.

Fan: 5 X 75 Watts X 6 hours = 2250 watts or 2.2 units

Tube light: 5 X 40 watts X 6 hours = 1200 watts or 1.2 units

So on average, 1 classroom consumes around 3.4 units of electricity. Now if we consider each class has at least 4 sections then we have 48 classes (12 X4) and the total power consumption of all those 48 classes in just one day will be around 163 units or 163 kWh of power.

So in 1 month, if school is open for 22 days those classes will be consuming around 3586 units of power.

If we consider the electricity rate as Rs. 10 per unit and schools run for 10 months then in 1 year those classes will consume electricity worth Rs. 3,58,600.

We haven't added the other classes like labs, library, canteens, etc. Let’s just say they add up to 10% of the total consumption of the school, which means the total [power consumption of the school will be 3944 units in a month and they will be paying a total of Rs. 3,94,400 per year on electricity

But most of the schools nowadays have 8 sections of the same class, which means this annual electricity cost will be around Rs. 8,00,000.

Note: This is just a rough calculation which can vary from school to school.

All of this can be avoided by the schools if they adopt solar.

Let’s have a look at how our client Bosco School is avoiding paying high electricity bills by adopting solar energy.

School: Bosco School

Monthly Power Consumption: 5557 Units

Electricity rates: Rs. 8.5 per unit

Surcharge and Taxes: 34.69% (1.3469)

Bosco School was paying Rs. 63295 per month for their electricity. This means yearly they were paying more than 6 lakhs on their electricity(running 10 months a year).

That huge electricity bill was one of the major reasons why Bosco School contacted Sunson Energy.

They got a 50 KW solar on-grid solution that can be upgraded as per the demand. For this 50 kW solar solution, Sunson Energy used 108 units of 445 Wp JA Solar Panels and a String Inverter.

The school adopted solar with 50% capacity which means they are saving up to 4 lakhs per year. Earlier the usage was less because of covid. As the usage will increase, they will increase the size of the plant.

Challenges Bosco School faced while installing solar

The only problem the Bosco school faced is that when they adopted solar or get solar installed, that was the covid period, which means there were fewer students and staff in the school. So the power requirement was less. But now as covid restrictions are no longer applied and schools are running at full capacity, the schools have realized they need more solar energy.

The school is planning to expand another 25-30kW in order to meet the increased demand of electricity.

Now let's discuss what was the impact of this solar installation.

Electricity saving plus clean energy.

The power we consume ‌comes from the coal-based power plant, which means the power we consume is carbon-intensive. The process of producing power or electricity is full of carbon emissions. But Solar energy is clean which means there is no carbon emission in the process of power generation. So by adopting solar, the school is not only saving money but also helping the climate change.

Impact on Students

If an educational institute whether it's a school or a college or a training center, installs solar energy, it affects the students positively..

Students not only get to know about new technology but they also get to know its benefits and how it can help climate change. That means now kids will know about climate change and after that, if they see any piece of news related to global warming or climate change, they will ‌understand it.

Not only that, but they will also make their parents aware of solar energy and there is a possibility that those parents will also try to get solar installed.

Students of Bosco School were called for a guided tour of the installation to make them understand the working. The goal was also to motivate the new generation to adopt renewable energy.

Benefit to school

By showing that they have solar installed, schools can attract new admissions as solar is a good branding tool as well.

Not only this, by showing that one school has adopted solar, the solar developer can also get more schools on board as again it's a matter of admissions in the next season.

Read about the Residential Solar Case study here.