India's first solar powered train set for trial/Solar powered train

[shree835]

New Delhi: Aiming to materialise its ambitious plan of harnessing solar energy to run trains, the Indian Railways goes green as with its first train powered by the solar panels. Gopal Sharma, the PRO North Western Railways told the media that the trial run of this train will be conducted by the end of this month. "This train will be run as a passenger train, the route to be decided after the trial run. This is the initiative by the Railways to make use of alternative source of energy," he said. "The prototype of the solar power-enabled coach where the entire train will be fitted with solar panels is going to be used for the trial," he added. Sharma further said that as per the plan, the train would be pulled by conventional diesel-run engines while the solar panels will provide all the internal electricity needs for lights and fans on both AC and non-AC coaches. When asked on the profits the Railways aims to generate by using these solar panels, Sharma said that this can be ascertained only after a trial run is over. Meanwhile, the Indian Railways has been focusing on alternate source of fuels with trials already on to use CNG, biodiesel and natural gas among others. According to studies, a train using solar power can reduce diesel consumption by up to 90,000 litres per year and also bring down the carbon dioxide emission by over 200 tonnes. The CNG is being used in local trains on Rohtak-Rewari section of Delhi Division. The dual fuel concept of using CNG and diesel has also helped in saving fuel and money. The solar power is expected to significantly bring down diesel consumption also aimed at the cost-effective.

http://www.sify.com/news/first-sola...et-for-trial-news-national-qfnjNogbbbjad.html

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...runs-of-solar-train-in-sunny-jodhpur-2798717/

 

[shree835]

 

[Ankit Kumar 002]

@anant_s will this mean an end to generator vans in LHB sets ?

 

[Muhammad Omar]

will this fulfill the need of Bogies?

 

[Echo_419]

will this fulfill the need of Bogies?

This will most likely power the internal utilities of the coach, like Lights, AC etc

 

[+4vsgorillas-Apebane]

Those panels are far far from enough to power the locomotives and engines.

Will probably struggle for constant hot water in the carriages. Its more to supplement existing power supply sources.

 

[wadi79]

panels will be a supplement to main power sources - you need approx. 20 square meters for 1 kilo-watt of electricity (1.5 hp). A railway engine is routinely 3-4,000 hp. So these panels will at most help meet some energy needs of passenger coaches. Having said that, any solar power generation is welcome because it means we are not using coal/fossil fuels to generate that bit of electricity.

On another note, I remember much fanfare around a water-powered car made by a Pakistani engineer a couple of years back. Instead of the sun-worshipping kuffars trying out solar power, maybe they should use water power instead?

 

[Ankit Kumar 002]

will this fulfill the need of Bogies?

Should be enough.

Those panels are far far from enough to power the locomotives and engines.

Will probably struggle for constant hot water in the carriages. Its more to supplement existing power supply sources.

They will not do anything for the traction , that's up with the locomotive. They will power the coaches , light , fan , AC, etc.

 

[Sliver]

just my 2 cents - wont it be better to actually put the solar panels somewhere on the ground and feed the power grid that powers the loco system (as and add on to the already existing power feeders)? that ways you can put the solar cells in a location more conducive to the solar power generation?

 

[Echo_419]

just my 2 cents - wont it be better to actually put the solar panels somewhere on the ground and feed the power grid that powers the loco system (as and add on to the already existing power feeders)? that ways you can put the solar cells in a location more conducive to the solar power generation?

That's actually a good idea

 

[Raje amar]

just my 2 cents - wont it be better to actually put the solar panels somewhere on the ground and feed the power grid that powers the loco system (as and add on to the already existing power feeders)? that ways you can put the solar cells in a location more conducive to the solar power generation?

Thats actually happening right now....... Remember Solar Power Plants.....
This is in addition to it to actually supliment the power from diesel power generated on the Train.
It will reduce the load on engine and reduce diesel consumption

 

[kadamba-warrior]

just my 2 cents - wont it be better to actually put the solar panels somewhere on the ground and feed the power grid that powers the loco system (as and add on to the already existing power feeders)? that ways you can put the solar cells in a location more conducive to the solar power generation?

I actually wrote to Railway Minister of India a few months ago suggesting him to lease out the roof space of tens of thousands of Railway stations lying idly scattered across India to Rooftop Solar Power Generation companies!

It would have meant additional revenues for Railways at no extra cost while generating far cheaper electricity for the Solar Power Producers (real estate being their biggest cost) - utilizing the same infrastructure/security of an already existing Railway station!

But of course, I didn't hear back from him - as can be expected.

@Topic:
Not trying to be cynical, but this is nowhere near enough and given the poor worksmanship of the Railway mechanics, the roofs of these trains will start leaking like sieves, come monsoon!

In stead of these kinds of theatrics, Railways should utilize their vast underutilized vacant land/rooftop to seriously install GW's Solar Power plants and use it to run their own trains or sell it to distributors for some additional revenues that they so desperately need!!

 

[aakash_2410]

just my 2 cents - wont it be better to actually put the solar panels somewhere on the ground and feed the power grid that powers the loco system (as and add on to the already existing power feeders)? that ways you can put the solar cells in a location more conducive to the solar power generation?

No because you'll need dedicated area to place these solar panels.

But, I'm not sure if these are enough to power the train. Even a solar car covered in solar panels with highest available efficiency barely squeaks past 5kmph and is painful to watch.

 

[WhyCry]

just my 2 cents - wont it be better to actually put the solar panels somewhere on the ground and feed the power grid that powers the loco system (as and add on to the already existing power feeders)? that ways you can put the solar cells in a location more conducive to the solar power generation?

Thats there, Its called solar plant and also use as solar furnace as well.

 

[kaykay]

This will save around 10-15% of total electricity used by Train per trip....We have 12000+ passenger trains running daily so a massive saving I say in long run.