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India is Rolling Out Trains With Solar-powered Coaches That'll Save Thousands of Litres of Diesel (qz.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: India's massive diesel-guzzling railway network is getting serious about its experiments with solar. On July 14, Indian Railways rolled out its first train with rooftop solar panels that power the lights, fans, and information display systems inside passenger coaches. Although the train will still be pulled by a diesel-powered locomotive, a set of 16 solar panels atop each coach will replace the diesel generators that typically power these appliances. The railways estimate that a train with six solar-powered coaches could save around 21,000 litres (5,547 gallons) of diesel every year, worth around $108,000. In 2014, Indian Railways consumed 2.6 billion litres of diesel, accounting for around 70% to the network's total fuel bill of $4.4 billion. The first of these trains will be pressed into service on the suburban railway network of New Delhi, one of the world's most polluted cities, before two dozen more coaches are fitted with similar rooftop solar systems. Retrofitting each coach with these system, including an inverter to optimise power generation and battery for storing surplus power, costs around $14,000.
...if the roof has solar panels, where do most of the passengers sit?
I've been on Indian trains....the roof is a significant part of the carriage capacity.
-Styopa
21,000 liters ~5,000 gallons = 108,000 dollars of fuel ?
Yeah something is wrong with the story from the get go.
Good job India- the big question though is: why haven't countries been using solar panels on mass transit roofs before now? I'm sure it could save lots of money most places. ... well maybe not mass transit in subways.
First, understand that these panels are not to help move the train, only to power on board electrical equipment (lights, etc).
Although the train will still be pulled by a diesel-powered locomotive, a set of 16 solar panels atop each coach will replace the diesel generators that typically power these appliances.
The first question I have is; How much to install more energy efficient equipment on the train? Second question is; How does that cost/benefit compare to added solar panels and weight. Solar panels only help part of the time, energy efficiency improvements will help 24/7. Unfortunately these articles never give us that kind of critical information, they are more about the symbolic wonder of solar panels.
The panels pay for themselves by almost an order of magnitude in the first year. If that is a dent, it is a big one.
More accurately, the article claims they might.