Lok Sabha Question No. 5204 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-24
Subject: Solar Panels on Train Roofs
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Bidyut Baran Mahato, Sanjay Sadashivrao Mandlik, Sudheer Gupta, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5204 TO BE ANSWERED ON 24.07.2019

## SOLAR PANELS ON TRAIN ROOFS

5204. SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

SHRI SANJAY SADASHIV RAO MANDLIK:

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Railways has taken various steps to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)        whether  the  Railways  has  also  installed  solar  energy  panels  on the roof of some trains  on trial basis;
- (c)      if so, the details thereof and the outcome of such trial;
- (d)    whether the Railways proposes to install the same type of solar energy panels on the roofs of other trains as well and if so, the details thereof, train-wise; and
- (e)     the other measures taken/being taken by the Railways to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels and save energy?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

- (a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  5204  BY  SHRI  BIDYUT  BARAN  MAHATO,  SHRI  SANJAY SADASHIV  RAO  MANDLIK,  SHRI  SUDHEER  GUPTA  AND  SHRI  GAJANAN KIRTIKAR  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  24.07.2019  REGARDING SOLAR PANELS ON TRAIN ROOFS

(a) and  (e)  Yes,  Sir.  In  order  to  reduce  dependence  on  fossil  fuels,  Indian Railways (IR) is following a two pronged strategy which involves sourcing of electrical  power  from  renewable  sources  and  also  taking  various  energy conservation measures to reduce the energy consumption.

Indian Railways (IR) is taking the various steps to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels and save energy along with various other Energy efficiency  measures  taken  to  reduce  carbon  footprints,  this  include  the following:

-  Indian  Railway  has  planned  to  install  1000  Mega  Watt  (MW)  of  Solar and  200  MW  of  wind  power  plants  across  its  Zonal  Railways  and Production  Units.  Till  date,  Railways  have  installed  about  88  MW  of solar power plant and 103 MW of wind power plants.
-  Use of energy efficient 3-Phase technology with regenerative features for  electric  locomotives,  Mainline  Electrical  Multiple  Units  (MEMUs), Electrical Multiple Units (EMUs), train sets for better energy efficiency.
-  Introduction of Head On Generation (HOG) system in trains to reduce diesel fuel consumption in power cars.

-  Provision of energy efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting in all Railway  installations  including  Railway  stations,  service  buildings, Residential quarters & coaches for reduction in electricity consumption.  100%  Railway  stations,  Service  buildings  have  already been provided with LED lights and about 74% of residential quarters have been provided with 100% LED lights.
-  Regular  energy  audits  at  consumption  points  -  Energy  Efficiency studies of six (6) Production Units (PUs) and four (4) Workshops were conducted and upto15% energy efficiency improvement achieved.
-  Rail Wheel Factory, Yelahanka, a production unit of IR, has started use of  Natural  Gas  for  operation  of  its  furnaces,  Two  Railway  workshops have switched over to the use of CNG in place of industrial gases for metal cutting.
-  Emphasis on use of 5 Star rated electrical equipments.
-  Regular  training  of  Loco  pilots  for  use  of  coasting,  regenerative braking  features  and  switching  off  blowers  of  electric  locos  in  case yard detention is more than 50 minutes. Similarly, diesel locos are also shut down if expected detention is more than 30 minutes and thereby resulting in reduction of Green House Gases (GHG) emissions.

-  Trailing locomotive of multi units (MU) hauling empty freight trains are switched off to save energy.
-  Energy  consumption  on  electric  locomotives  is  regularly  monitored through  microprocessor  based  energy  meters  provided  in  all  the electric  locomotives  and  benchmarking  is  done  based  on  average energy consumption.
-  Monitoring  the  fuel  consumption  with  respect  to  trip  ration  of  diesel locomotive drivers.
-  Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) has been provided in 986 diesel locomotives to reduce fuel consumption when locomotive is idle.
-  Monitoring of idling of diesel locomotives is being done through remote monitoring  and  management  of  Locomotives  and  trains  (called  as REMMLOT). 2606 locomotives at present are equipped with REMMLOT.
- Use of 5% bio-diesel in traction fuel- Blending of bio-diesel with High
-  Speed Diesel (HSD), to the extent of 5%, to save HSD.
-  20% Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) substitution in DEMUs -CNG usage emits less GHG than liquid fuels. Indian Railways have the distinction of being the only railway in the world to be using CNG run power cars for  passenger  transportation.  IR  has  started  conversion  of  DEMU Driving Power Car (DPC) into dual fuel mode DEMU/DPC with CNG. 25

number of DPCs have been converted and are under operation.

(b) to (d) Yes,  Sir.  Indian  Railways  have  already  provided  solar  panels on  roof  top  of  19  Narrow  Gauge  coaches  on  Trains  in  Kalka-Shimla  and Kangra Valley in Northern Railways and 40 Broad Gauge non-air conditioned coaches which are presently in service [13 coaches in train no. 54075/76, 54085/86 of Northern Railway, 7 coaches in train no.12084/83 of Southern Railway  and  20  trailer  coaches,  of  Diesel  Electrical  Multiple  Unit  (DEMU) (Train nos.11137/38-6 coaches, 11133/34-8 coaches, and 6 coaches in other passenger trains)]. Also roof top solar panels have been provided on 50 nos. of Goods Guard Brake Vans to supply electricity for fan, light and a charging point for the Guards.

Solar  system  works  during  sunlight  and  generates  battery  backup  of approx.  4  to  5  hours.  System  does  not  work  properly  during  fog/rain  and winter season and battery backup goes down to 2 to 3 hours depending upon weather  condition.  Solar  panels  on  train  rooftops  requires  very  frequent cleaning as lot of dust gets deposited during to movement of trains. Also, Solar power generation is maximum if the panels are directly exposed to sun light. Solar power generation in moving train is less due to frequent changes in direction, shadow of trees and fixed structures along the track. Moreover, the generation will depend lot on terrain and there will be Zero generation

during  night  hours.  The  weight  of  Solar  panels  on  coach  rooftops  is  an additional constraint. Hence, the provision of Solar panels on rooftop of train coaches is presently under experimental stage and hence not considered for installation on all train coaches.

Railways have taken decision to provide solar panel on roof top of 10 coaches in 1 Train of day running intercity train, 50 coaches of 3 number of passenger  trains  and  50%  Narrow  Gauge  coaches  plying  on  PathankotJoginder Nagar route in Kangra Valley section and Kalka-Shimla section of Northern Railway for conducting extended trials.

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