Kolkata: The much-awaited solar dome (renewable energy museum) in New Town will open its gates to the visitors on Tuesday. State urban development and municipal affairs minister Firhad Hakim is scheduled to inaugurate the dome spread over three acres adjacent to the Eco Park. Besides internal lighting, it will also light up the surrounding streetlights with the energy it generates.
Developed by the Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco), the 27m high dome with 45m diametre has 2,086 solar panels of 150 and 200 watts for continuous generation of energy throughout the day.
Officials said the solar dome is a truncated geodetic spherical dome that will produce 180 KWH of solar power.
The dome museum will have about 50 TV displays, six LED tunnels, 30 projectors, and six robots. It will have three levels inside to give an immersive experience to the visitors about various energy sources like hydro, tidal, wind, geothermal, and solar along with environmental awareness and sustainable practices.
Three floors of exhibition spaces will be connected with a spiral ramp for visitors to go up. A central lift will also be there using which the visitors will move to the ground floor. The top floor will offer a spectacular viewing gallery.
As per plans, a facility management firm will operate the displays and models of renewable energies inside the dome. It will guide visitors through the dome museum . The firm will also run and maintain the interactive displays, which include quizzes for users and online games, along with operating the kids' zone in the museum.