Solar Power panels atop Train Coaches can save 11 Crore Litres of Diesel, reduce 3 Lakh Tons of Carbondioxide Emissions: IISc Scientists
Chennai: Fitting a solar panel module on the roof of a railway coach can yield more than 7,200 units of electricity every year. If implemented on all 63,511 coaches in the Railways, 450 million units of power can be harnessed resulting in savings of 10.8 crore litres of diesel and reduction of carbon dioxide emission by approximately 3 lakh tonnes.
These are the findings of a pilot field research conducted by a team of scientists from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, who travelled on a solar-panel fitted LHB (Linke Hoffman Busch) coach, a latest German technology bogie, which was attached to the Chennai-Coimbatore, Chennai-Mysore Shatabdi and Chennai-Bangalore Double Decker Express trains on different days during June 24-July 2. The research was carried out to assess the feasibility and viability of generating electricity on a moving train from solar panels fitted on the rooftops of trains and the impact of factors like sunshine, train speed, number of halts, track curves, etc.
The pilot study was carried out in a ‘worst-case scenario’, i.e. during the onset of the Southwest monsoon on railway routes with low sunshine due to clouds or rainfall. Hence the electricity generation in places and seasons of harsher sunshine would give a greater yield, thereby projecting a figure bigger than what was arrived at in this study.
The coach could generate a maximum of 1.8 units of electricity per day, according to the research findings. This was extrapolated to a scenario where 24 such panels (12X2 module) could be retrofitted on the coach.
Thus, the resulting yield was assessed to be 18-20 units per day. The figures for yearly savings have been arrived at by assuming that the coach would be in operation for 365 days a year in the report, though the industry standard is 330 days.
The study was done on the Shatabdi Express as it has minimum stoppages; however, the team wanted to measure the power yield at lower speeds and hence the Double Decker Express train was chosen. The team also reported on a number of practical factors which contributed to fluctuations in electricity generation during all the trial runs. A static trial was also carried out at the Basin Bridge yard here to compare the parameters with the dynamic trial.
The study is significant in the context of the shift by the Railways from conventional coaches to German technology LHB rakes, which have better safety features. For operation of electrical appliances inside an LHB coach, power supply from the End on Generation (EOG) system (a generator) is needed, which consumes 0.25 litres of diesel to generate 1 unit of electricity. If every LHB rake is fitted with 12X2 Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) module, it would result in huge energy savings as well as cut environmental pollution caused by burning diesel.
The study findings could be used to manufacture and design many such Solar Rail Coaches on a large-scale which could significantly bring down the price of the solar panels and operational costs. In addition, with increased interest in the field of solar energy research, an advancement in technology raised the possibility of a yield greater than what was obtained during the field trials, resulting in greater diesel savings and an effective solution for reduced emissions. Railway officials noted that implementation of the project on a wider scale could provide a fillip to the domestic solar panel manufacturing industry in line with the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
Indian Railways to introduce 500 Solar Panel fitted Trains
A lot of latest innovations are being brought in the system with the directives of the Railway Minister who is determined to change the way the IR works
New Delhi: Indian Railways may introduce 500 trains with solar panel fitted coaches. Reports that the ministry of new and renewable energy could subsidize the project cost. The national transporter had run a pilot project with a specially outfitted coach earlier this year to study the feasibility of such an initiative.
The energy generated by the solar panels is likely to be used solely to meet illumination and air flow requirements in the bogies.
The report does not detail whether the project would also have storage mechanisms coupled with the panels to power devices in the absence of sunlight.
The railways already have a plan to install solar power capacity of 500 megawatts on rooftops of railway stations.
It is part of the organization’s target to meet 10 percent of its energy requirements from renewable sources by 2020.
And it has signed four agreements with the ministries of power and renewable energy toward this purpose last month.
On average, Indian Railways is seeing 5 percent increase in energy consumption annually. In the year ended March 31, the railways had a power bill of Rs12,500 crore.
Recently the railway network of The Netherlands, Nederlandse Spoorwegen, announced that it will be operating its entire rolling stock on wind power by 2018.
Weighty Challenge: Solar Powered Coaches will have to rework Coach Weight
Chennai: The Integral Coach Factory’s (ICF) trials, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, with solar powered coaches have been successful, but has now thrown open another weighty challenge.
The solar panels, while generating enough electricity to power a non-air-conditioned coach, are also creating a problem of adding to the deadweight of the coach. This means that coaches with the panels will have to be redesigned and engineered to ensure that the weight of the coach does not go up.
“We have received the report from IISc. We are taking a further call on it. The solar panels, however, add to the weight of the coach. Some framework is required to mount the panel on the roof. Without adding extra weight, we have to see how to bring power to the coach,” an ICF official told.
In June, the Railways rolled out its first solar panel-enabled coach that generated about 17 units of power in a day to enable the lighting system in the coach on the Rewari-Sitapur passenger train. The department has plans to generate about 1,000 MW in the next five years. Through this plan, the Railways hopes to reduce the amount of electricity it draws from the grid.
However, mass production of solar powered coaches will be viable when the issue of the deadweight is solved. “We can have batteries to store the solar power generated during the day, but that will require a large number of batteries which will once again add to the deadweight,” the official pointed out. “The panels can be embedded on the roof itself. But, it will require extensive design change in the roof. A commercially viable solution is required,” the official added.
Some framework is required to mount the panel on the roof
No comments:
Post a Comment