Powering railway stations using solar energy gets major success

Mumbai, January 5: The aim of powering railway stations using solar power has seen the light of the day. Framing solar power railway station has been a successful attempt in Pune and Nampally in Hyderabad. The project has garnered a lot of attention and many new stations have lined up to be called solar power stations soon.

 

Using solar power has penetrated India’s transportation in a big way. First it was the kochi airport which made news by using solar power at it’s airport and following its suit I the railway sector. Realizing the benefits of using sun power the railway has decided that it will generate 1,000 MW of solar power by 2020 and aims to reach 5000 MW by 2025.

The plan of executing these solar power stations was first started in pune followed by Nampally. The solar panels were installed on the rooftop space available at the stations. In Pune, the panels were installed on the RCC rooftop of the reservation building and on platform No. 1, while at the Nampally station in Hyderabad, the panels were installed on the metal sheet roof of platform No. 5 and 6.

Power generated through these panels is converted from DC to AC through solar string inverters and the AC power is directly injected into the railways’ main electrical power panel. The system works in sync with grid power. The arrangement is such that at any given point of time, solar power is consumed on priority and the balance power is taken from the grid.

Electricity generated through solar has helped in reducing power consumption to a large extent. The Ministry of Railways has announced that it has plans to sanction solar power system on 24 coaches of suburban trains and is likely to approve similar provisions with flexible solar panels on 250 more coaches.