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Rail coaches with rooftop solar photovoltaic systems: A feasibility study

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  • Shravanth Vasisht, M.
  • Vashista, G.A.
  • Srinivasan, J.
  • Ramasesha, Sheela K.

Abstract

The performance of solar photovoltaic modules mounted on the rooftop of a rail coach of The Indian Railways is reported here. The focus of this experiment was to quantify the reduction in diesel consumption of the end-on generation system that powers the electrical load in the new generation coaches. A coach retrofitted with two flexible solar photovoltaic modules was run at speeds up to 120 km/h by coupling it to three popular trains of south India. Based on the experimental results, the benefits of operating solar rail coaches is projected. It is estimated that one solar rail coach can generate atleast 18 kWh of electricity in a day, leading to an annual diesel saving of 1700 litre. The Indian Railways operates 63,511 coaches and hence, under ideal conditions, can save around 108.5 million litre of diesel annually. This would help to control environmental pollution and mitigate climate change, as it reduces the carbon dioxide emission by 2.9 million tonnes in a year. A statistical model was developed to estimate the power output per unit rooftop area of the coach, to enable The Indian Railways to calculate the benefits of operating solar rail coaches on various routes.

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  • Shravanth Vasisht, M. & Vashista, G.A. & Srinivasan, J. & Ramasesha, Sheela K., 2017. "Rail coaches with rooftop solar photovoltaic systems: A feasibility study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 684-691.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:118:y:2017:i:c:p:684-691
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2016.10.103
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    5. Sergey V. Mitrofanov & Natalya G. Kiryanova & Anna M. Gorlova, 2021. "Stationary Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems for Railway Electrification: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-21, September.
    6. Kumar, Gokula Manikandan Senthil & Cao, Sunliang, 2023. "Leveraging energy flexibilities for enhancing the cost-effectiveness and grid-responsiveness of net-zero-energy metro railway and station systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    7. Li Ji & Zhenwei Yu & Jing Ma & Limin Jia & Fuwei Ning, 2020. "The Potential of Photovoltaics to Power the Railway System in China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-17, July.
    8. Valeriy Kuznetsov & Petro Hubskyi & Artur Rojek & Magdalena Udzik & Krzysztof Lowczowski, 2024. "Progress and Challenges Connected with the Integration of Renewable Energy Sources with Railway Distribution Networks," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-19, January.
    9. Hongye pan, & Jia, Changyuan & Li, Haobo & Zhou, Xianzheng & Fang, Zheng & Wu, Xiaoping & Zhang, Zutao, 2022. "A renewable energy harvesting wind barrier based on coaxial contrarotation for self-powered applications on railways," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    10. Kim, Hanjin & Ku, Jiyoon & Kim, Sung-Min & Park, Hyeong-Dong, 2022. "A new GIS-based algorithm to estimate photovoltaic potential of solar train: Case study in Gyeongbu line, Korea," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 713-729.
    11. Zuo, Jianyong & Dong, Liwei & Yang, Fan & Guo, Ziheng & Wang, Tianpeng & Zuo, Lei, 2023. "Energy harvesting solutions for railway transportation: A comprehensive review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 56-87.
    12. Barone, Giovanni & Buonomano, Annamaria & Forzano, Cesare & Palombo, Adolfo, 2020. "Enhancing trains envelope – heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems: A new dynamic simulation approach for energy, economic, environmental impact and thermal comfort analyses," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).

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