SOLAR powered TRAINS : Indian Railways (Trials) click here
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Indian Railways is planning to come out with a solar policy for procuring 1000 MW solar power in the next five years. The clear motive of the project is to cut down on the Railways’ fuel bill, which is the second-largest component of expenditure after the employee salaries for the cash-strapped government.
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solar panels generate about 17 units of power in a day which
enables the lighting system in the coach. According to studies, a train using solar power can reduce diesel consumption by up to 90,000 liters per year and can also bring down the carbon dioxide emission by over 200 tonnes. The generation of solar supply will help railways saving in diesel consumption due to reduced running of diesel generators to power supply coaches as seen in the video.
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The Integral Coach Factory, in collaboration with the Divecha Centre for Climate Change at the Indian Institute of Science from Bangalore have been conducting trial run of solar panels installed atop a special Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) Prototype coach .The special sleeper class LHB coach fitted with two flexible solar panels of 180 Watt each, matching the exact curved shape of the coach'es rooftops, at the ICF. Researcher's M Shravanth Vasisht and Vashishta Ademane have been travelling on board with the equipment to record the real-time data of solar power generated every minute.
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Dr Sheela Ramasesha of IISc said, “A scientific analysis is necessary to prove the feasibility of such trains and frame guidelines.”
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On evaluation of trial results and cost benefit analysis, further study of economic viability will be undertaken by the Railways .