We recently mentioned about how India was increasing its use of solar power to reduce carbon emissions and provide an environmentally friendly source of energy in the country. Well, Indian Railways is planning to install solar panels on the roofs of a number of its trains. It is already fitting solar photovoltaic panels to the roofs of a considerable number of its buildings.
Some Indian railways trains are planning to have solar panels fitted to the coach roofs
The railway company just happens to be the fourth biggest train company in the world. It is to fit solar panels to 250 of its trains’ coaches that provide a local service with the energy being used to provide power for lights and fans. Batteries will also be used.
Companies involved in solar panels will be invited to tender for the work and will carry out trials on a number of trains for a couple of months before a decision is made as to which company is to be awarded the project. It certainly sounds like it is a particularly large contract.
There are so many places that solar panels can be fitted to help generate electricity and, over the years, we have made reference to some of them. It is not only the roofs of homes and commercial buildings that make ideal locations for solar panels. For instance, they have been installed on ambulances here in the UK and attached to backpacks to be used by walkers to help charge up mobile phones or tablets.
Solar panels have been attached to a large “raft” that is floated on the top of water such as on reservoirs and the sea to use space that would not be required for any other purpose. Solar panels have been used in parking lots where electric car charging points are situated to help provide the energy for alternatively fuelled vehicles.
It will be interesting to see how successful the installation of these solar panels will be atop a large number of trains’ coaches operated by Indian Railways.
