Guntakal railway station installs canopies to harness solar energy and rainwater

The ‘inverted umbrella’ shaped canopies use monocrystalline flexible solar panels on top to generate electricity for functions like mobile and laptop charging, and lighting.

July 11, 2019 Uma Gupta

Canopy using solar panel, Li-ion battery and inbuilt inverters installed at Guntakal Railway Station in Andhra Pradesh

Image Credit: South Central Railway

Guntakal Railway Station—in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh—has installed ‘inverted umbrella’ like canopies to harness solar energy and rain water. The canopies use monocrystalline flexible solar panels to generate electricity for lighting and mobile and laptop charging. These also include Lithium-ion battery for power backup, a mobile charger and LED bulbs. Automated sensor control allows intelligent lighting.

The canopies are installed by the side of the exit road and along the walking path in the circulating area.

In all, six canopies with built-in inverters are installed at a cost of around Rs 14 lakh. Each measures 5×5 m2 in size and weighs 120 kg. The umbrellas are square shaped with a central stainless tube, consisting of 40W LED lamps.

The canopies—also called Model 1080 because of the geometrical angles of their internal structure—are manufactured and supplied by Think-Pie Sustainable Lab and are available in different sizes. These are claimed to be the world’s first integrated plug-and-play system that combines shading, clean water, intelligent lighting with innovative design.

Annual rain water collection of each canopy is up to 60,000 litres, which can be diverted to a tank for storage.

The canopies can withstand wind gusts of 140 kmph.

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