Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Metro Rail could become the first Metro in the country to extensively use solar power.
Metro authorities are planning to install solar panels on the roofs of the stations that are broad enough to harness solar power. “In a city like Hyderabad, which has abundance of sunlight, solar power can be utilised in a good way. Our stations have been designed in such a way that they can harness solar power. We are trying to fit solar panels on the station roofs. We are yet to figure out if this power can be directly used for the running of the trains or in other ways by sending it to the main grid. This technique has already been inculcated in the design. We want this project to set an example and its techniques must be beyond the use of basic fossil fuels,” said M.V. Gadgil, chief executive and managing director, L&T Metro Rail, Hyderabad.
“We also have very modern technologies like the regenerative braking, where energy is extracted from the parts braked, to be stored and reused. This power can be either directly used or could be sent back to the main grid to be used for other activities. This will amount up to 38-40 per cent of the power otherwise used.
