Chennai: Metro installs solar panels on 4 station roofs

Chennai: The Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has installed solar panels on the roof of four metro stations and also at Koyambedu metro depot to harness solar energy.

CMRL joint director S. Pandian in a statement said CMRL is very committed to achieving energy security, to reduce carbon emission and to promote the green energy concept by generating renewable energy. Four stations, namely Thirumangalam, Anna Nagar Tower, Anna Nagar East and Shenoy Nagar metro stations have been installed with solar panels on the rooftop and the Koyambedu metro depot, which also includes a metro washing unit and other facilities has also been fitted with solar panels. This is expected to generate around 13,800 units per month and will save around Rs 6,34,744 lakh per year, S Pandian said. 

Chennai has the potential to harness solar energy enough to reduce the demand for electricity by at least 20 per cent,  says a report by Greenpeace India and Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (Germi). The report, titled ‘Rooftop Revolution: Unleashing Chennai’s Rooftop Potential’ found that the total rooftop potential of the city was 1,380 Megawatts (MW). Landmarks in the city which have a sizeable solar power potential are all Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) railway station roofs(3,582 kW), metro station roofs (1696 kW), bus depot roofs (938  kW) and the Chennai international airport ( 889 kW)

 A total of 103 KWp Roof Top Solar PV Power System is being generated from the metro stations at the moment. “The installed capacity of roof top solar power by CMRL is 1.6 MW in total. Another 6.0 MW rooftop solar power installation is under progress and is expected to be completed by the end of this year 2018,” said S Pandian.