Asutosh College, in south Calcutta, has become the first college in the state to use solar power. A 73-watt panel, set up on the roof of the college with help from the West Bengal Renewable Energy Resource Development Agency, is powering instruments in the physics, electronics and computer laboratories for the past 10 days. Asutosh College principal Debabrata Chowdhury said: "The use of non-conventional source of energy is likely to increase the life span of sophisticated instruments in the laboratories. This is one of reasons we opted for solar energy.' The college authorities plan to install more solar panels to power instruments in the environmental science, botany, zoology and microbiology laboratories. Solar power may also be used to illuminate corridors and classrooms. "The monthly electricity bill of the college is about Rs 85,000. By using only solar power, we can cut down the bill by a third,' added Chowdhury.' The college, which spent Rs 24,000 on its solar panel, will get a discount from the renewable energy agency for future purchases. Other educational institutions, too, will be offered a 40 per cent discount, stated S.P. Gan Chowdhury, the director of the agency. Scottish Church College and Medical College are two of the other educational institutions that have evinced interest in installing solar panels. Gan Chowdhury said: "Medical College has asked for 70 solar panels. It's an encouraging trend.' Calcutta University registrar Samir Bandopadhyay said: "The move by Asutosh College is welcome. But we can't use non-conventional energy in all colleges since setting up and maintaining the solar energy equipment is expensive.'