Global Sustainability Meets Yoga and Meditation

Global Sustainability Meets Yoga and Meditation

By | 2018-06-12T05:22:17-04:00 October 15th, 2014|India|

Global, high-tech, green, and sustainable – The Himalayan Institute demonstrates its commitment to the environment at the campus in Khajuraho, India.

We are currently constructing a second retreat building. This new building, the existing building, and the shrine are powered with solar energy.

Here’s how it works:

There are 32 solar panels, strategically placed on top of the buildings, catching solar rays for energy. Each solar panel is capable of converting the solar energy into 250 watts of electricity. When all of this energy is combined in the solar invertor and stored in special batteries, it totals over 8,000 watts of electricity! This is enough to power the lights and fans in the Sri Vidya Shrine and both of the retreat buildings throughout the year, making the campus independent of conventional (and intermittent) municipal electricity.

In addition to the solar electric system, each building has a solar thermal system to heat water. Eight solar thermal panels also sit on each roof, busy harnessing the sun’s rays to heat the water in large tanks used for bathing. This hi-tech system takes approximately 4 hours to heat the water to 140F – a special treat in the cool Indian winters!

Here is a view of the Sri Vidya Shrine from our new building.

Res Bldg Shrine View 2