Western Railway to install solar panels soon on Churchgate-Virar route to conserve electricity

Western railways (WR) will soon install solar-panels on the Churchgate-Virar route. According to the reports, solar panels will save electricity bills as the Indian Railways aims to cut down the expense to the tune of INR 41,000 crore in the next ten years Under the ‘Mission 41K’ scheme. For the installations, WR has identified 23 locations on its Churchgate-Virar route, including railway stations.

The solar panels would be fitted over the platforms of Mumbai Central, Lower Parel, Mahim, Khar Road, Andheri, Ram Mandir and Borivali, as told by an official. These solar panels will have a capacity of 4,750kW or 4.7Mw of power, equivalent to the power used by the floodlights at Wankhede stadium.

The solar power generated will be used to electrify fans, tube lights, food stall lights, passenger announcement systems etc at the station premises. Panels fitted at the station buildings and car sheds will help the Railways to amp the lights, fans, air-conditioners and other pieces of electric equipments found in a building.