New Delhi civic body to install four solar trees, solar bus shelters

NEW DELHI Giving a boost to its solar power initiatives, the New Delhi Municipal Council will install four more solar trees and another four solar bus shelters in Central Delhi area.

NDMC chairman Naresh Kumar said the council has already installed one solar tree at B Block in Connaught Place and is eyeing more such units.

“Apart from providing mobile charging facility, it is giving an aesthetic look particularly after sunset, when the leaves of the solar tree light up. This has been developed by Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and the solar panels have been sourced from Central Electronics Limited (CEL). In 2018-19, we plan to build four more of these trees across the council area,” Kumar said.

The solar tree has nine petals, top of which are covered with flexible solar panels, capable of generating 1.26KW. It has a sitting area for 16 persons and is equipped with IP67 digital interactive panel, LED lights and charging points for mobiles.

According to him, two state-ofthe-art solar bus queue shelters are already functional on Shanti Path which would be the template for four more. “The top and sides of these Bus Shelter Queues (BSQ) are covered with solar panels embedded in toughened glass fixed in steel framework making it first such endeavour in the country. The solar panels and steel framework of these BSQs are sourced from CEL and SAIL respectively and these have a capacity of 2.7KW each,” Kumar said, adding that four more solar shelters will come up around the Shanti Path area in 2018-19.

The council is also exploring a scheme for installation of solar rooftops in private buildings.

THE SOLAR TREE HAS NINE PETALS, TOP OF WHICH ARE COVERED WITH FLEXIBLE SOLAR PANELS, CAPABLE OF GENERATING 1.26KW