Indian Transport to get Solar Power

Adani to set up rs. 60,000 crore Solar Park in Rajasthan

July 2, 2015

Adanis to set up 648 MW of solar power in the southern state of Tamil Nadu

July 6, 2015

Solar Power at Indian Airports

The transport industry in India is now considering using solar energy to cut its dependence on thermal power and diesel consumption. The AAI (Airport Authority of India) will now construct solar power plants at its airports to meet its power requirements, according to the MoU signed between AAI and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). Any excess power will be supplied to the grid as well. It will first instal 50 MW capacity solar plants on its roof top surfaces as large areas are available at airports. This will be increased to 150 MW over a time period. AAI has plans to solarize 30 such airports at the moment.

The AAI spokesperson said the solar plants would not only achieve significant savings in power bills over a period of time but also lead to significant saving in carbon emissions. The plants would also make airports self-sustainable so far as energy requirement is concerned, he said.

Source: TOI

Also read about Solar Powered Cars here.

Solar Power in Indian Railways

The Indian Railways is also considering to supply power to the railways using solar energy. A trial run was conducted on a non-AC coach of the Indian Railway, with solar panels on its rooftop surface. The roof surface of a coach is ~40 square meter and can accommodate a maximum of 18 solar panels. It is generating 17 units of energy on a daily basis, enough to support the lighting system in the coach. The Indian Railways is also considering establishing rooftop solar railway stations, other railway buildings and land. It is planning to generate 1 GW solar power in the next five years. This will reduce diesel consumption and will enable Rs.1.24 lakhs saving per coach year.

“As the pilot project, one non-AC coach has been fitted with solar panels on the rooftop. The trial has been successful so far with the coach generating nearly 17 units of electricity every day. Depending on its success, decision will be taken to convert the entire train into a solar power-enabled one,” said Divisional Railway Manager, Arun Arora.

Source: Dailymail

India is a vast country with large power needs. All these efforts will go a long way in saving power cost and reducing the burden over the states. The transport industry has been considering the adoption of alternative fuel for sometime now. If the power problems get solved by this, I think the industry will then be in a better position to address other service related issues that the customers who are traveling face. Thinking Solar was an excellent idea in my view.

1 Comment

pramod ranjan arora says:

July 3, 2015 at 5:27 pm

Indian railways have already solarized so many railway stations in India. Railways have done commendable job by installation of solar module on the roof of the coach which is an example to the world. Solarizing of air ports would utilize unused space and solar resource. Air Port Authority of India would use own generated electricity and sell excess electricity to utility and ultimately the emission would be reduced (approaching towards Green World ).

Reply