For the first time in the country, solar panels have been installed on an Indian warship.
The survey class vessel INS Sarvekshak, attached with the southern naval command, has been fitted with 18 sheets of solar panels atop its hangar.
It took about six months to put the entire system in place. We are now using solar energy for lights and a couple of air conditioners.
Captain Rajesh Bargoti is the commanding officer of the ship.
The 300-watt panels generate about 5.4kW power.
Biggest challenge was that marine environments were not suitable for normal solar panels, as saline and humid surroundings would damage it.
Also, the wind speed can affect the panels, which may get uprooted while at sea.
Therefore scientists had to look at flexible panels that had anti-rust properties, were marine compatible, could withstand high wind speeds, perform on flat installations and had very low weight.
There are 10 batteries which are used for storage.
Only solar power for the purpose of lighting during sail.
When anchored the ship uses power supplied by the state electricity board and not diesel.
Ship personnel were noting down meter reading of solar power consumption so as to carry out a power audit and look at using solar power for more devices.
