Delhi Metro to Set Up Solar Panels on Pedestrian Bridges to Generate Power

The first solar panel installation will be taken up on a 250-metre over bridge at Kalkaji station on the soon-to-start Botanical Garden-Janakpuri West line.

Delhi Metro will be installing solar panels on the roof of pedestrian over-bridges to generate clean and cheaper energy for use at stations. The first project will be taken up on a 250-metre over bridge at Kalkaji station on the soon-to-start Botanical Garden-Janakpuri West line in the phase 3 expansion of the rail network.

Power comprises 34 percent of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s total input cost. The corporation had cited rising power costs as one of the main reasons for justifying the recent tariff hike.

DMRC has so far commissioned solar power facilities with a generation capacity of approx. 2,800 kWp with plants at Dwarka Sector 21, Anand Vihar, Pragati Maidan, Metro Enclave, Yamuna bank station, Yamuna bank depot, Faridabad RSS, ITO, Ajronda depot and the Faridabad metro stations.

It has also signed an agreement with the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar to source 35 million units of solar power to meet effectively the entire energy needs on the phase 3 network.

Since most of the pedestrian over-bridges or foot-over bridges (FOBs) at Metro stations do not have roofs, the corporation will check the feasibility of the project at Kalkaji. If it is a success, then it will be replicated at other stations.

“The solar panels on the FOB connecting the old and new Kalkaji Mandir stations will produce 229kw of power. The FOB at Ajronda in Faridabad has also been taken up. Eight FOBs on the Faridabad section will be considered for installation of solar panels on FOB,” said a DMRC spokesperson.

FOBs have been constructed at all the nine metro stations of the Faridabad corridor. The FOB solar panels in Faridabad with 25 Kilowatt (KW) power generation capacity will produce 225 KW power in total.

DMRC has so far installed solar power plants at all the stations of the Faridabad corridor and Ajronda Depot with a total generation capacity of 1.9 Mega Watt peak (MWp).

“In view of space constraints, Metro engineers have constructed an elevated stabling shed at Kalkaji. We will install the solar panels in such a way that it provides shelter to the trains and generate power simultaneously,” the spokesperson said.

By March 2018, Delhi Metro will generate 31 MWp of solar power. As per its solar policy, DMRC plans to generate 50 MWp of solar power by 2021.

Source: HT