Solar to Possibly Power Hoardings in Mumbai

With energy conservation becoming a prime concern, BMC puts its best foot forwards and proposes to make it mandatory for all hoardings in Mumbai to use solar energy instead of conventional energy. The BMC had first put forward the proposal through former mayor Subha Raul, who had written to the state government, urging it to make it mandatory for billboards and hoardings to use solar energy and conserve power. According to sources, over 3000 billboards fill Mumbai’s sky line and they consume 15000 units of power everyday (which amounts to more than 0.5% of the city’s total electricity consumption). Thus if statistics are to be believed these hoardings consume massive powers.

Maharashtra, which was an energy surplus state, has been facing a huge shortfall in power generation for a decade now. While 10,500 MW of power is generated in the state, it actually requires over 15,000 MW which means a shortfall of nearly 4,500 MW. The state is already finding it difficult to match power supply and demand. The rising hours of load-shedding due to power shortage has made the government sit up and take notice of the proposal. Making use of solar energy mandatory for ad companies would not only save power, but also contribute in making Mumbai an eco-friendly city. There would probably also be some incentives for the hoarding companies to switch to solar energy.