Karnataka Plans Floating Solar Panels on 40 Lakes to Boost Solar Power Generation and Cut Electricity Costs

40 lakes in Karnataka whose area spans 10000 acres have been recognized by the state government where floating solar panels will be installed to generate solar power, reduce electricity dependency and save cost as well. Across India, such panels have been installed on water bodies generating 1 gigawatt of power."We are paying electricity charges to the tune of ₹10 crore to ₹12 crore per month. To reduce the dependency on energy and save this amount, we are exploring the possibility of installing floating solar panels in all the lakes," Boseraju said.

In July 2023 Minor Irrigation Minister NS Boseraju proposed the idea of having floating solar panels on water bodies. Boseraju said that the minor irrigation department is looking at reducing costs on lift irrigation projects. The lakes are filled with lift irrigation projects and these lakes can generate 2500 Mega Watt power as throughout the year these lakes remain 60% full with water.

The government spends Rs. 10-12 crore per month on this project. Installation costs of these panels remain expensive.He said about 483 lift irrigation projects are coming under the Minor Irrigation Department. The minister also discussed generating revenues from lakes under 456 lift irrigation projects to make them open for commercial purposes. Boseraju informed that the government has earned Rs. 33.58 lakh revenue from 71 lakes that been handed over to fishing cooperative societies. The minister suggested leaving tender-cum-auction process and only opting for the e-tender process. This way the revenue can be increased three times. He said that from tender-cum-aution process 381 lakes generated Rs. 254.29 lakh revenue. With floating solar panels throwing open lakes for commercial activities can help reducing the electricity cost burden on the lift irrigation projects, the minister said.

In this regard, the Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd. (KREDL) will organize a meeting to find out the pros and cons of floating solar panels on lakes. In the end, the minister said that a meeting would be conducted with Deputy CM and water resource minister DK Shivkumar.