In this day and age, when the energy resources are being wasted every

single second, it has become important for the people to go green. Sun
being a major source has forced us to take its advantage. Solar strategy
used on roads is a step taken up in that direction only. Moreover, solar
energy is one of the most renewable feasible energy resources in India
because of in India sun shines mostly throughout the year in many parts
of the country.

Some important points we are going to discuss during this project are:

• Solar Lights ( solar street lights, Solar traffic lights,

solar blinkers)

• Solar Parking

• Solar Roadways

• Solar billboards
SOLAR LIGHTS

Solar lights don’t run on conventional power, but are run by the solar
energy. Solar Street lights are the invention of the latest technology. They
help in reducing the electricity consumption of any country, dramatically.

The solar lights use solar energy, a form of the

renewable energy. The solar lights comprise of
photovoltaic cells, which absorb the solar energy
during daytime. The photovoltaic cells convert
solar energy into electrical energy, which is stored
in the battery. At the nighttime the lamp starts
automatically and it consumes the electricity
already stored in the battery. During the day time,
the battery gets charges and the process keeps in
repeating every day. Benefits of solar lights:
Benefits

• No line voltage, trenching, or metering

• No power outages
• Battery backup for cloudy or rainy days
• Distributed light and power - no single point of failure for enhanced security
• Easy to install with quick connect plugs - less than 1 hour
• No scheduled maintenance for up to 5 years
• No cost of replacing concrete, asphalt or landscaping
• No cost of transformers or meters to be added for electric service
• Qualify for savings from various state and federal taxes and incentives
• No monthly electric bills, Controlled charging to prolong battery service life
• Long life PV modules with more than 25 years of power generation capacity
• Environmentally friendly - 100% powered by the sun, solar panels reduce fossil fuel
consumption, eliminating pollution
• Self-contained solution - Light on/off controlled by automatic daylight sensing or
hour preset, no running or maintenance cost
• Better light source - LED lamps feature cool white light without flickering and higher
brightness than sodium lamps
• Safe 12 volt/24 volt circuit, no risk of electric shock

Other major uses of solar lights are in:

Solar Traffic Lights, Solar street Lights, Solar garden and decorating lights, solar lanterns,
solar blinkers etc.

1. Solar traffic lights and solar blinkers on experimental basis have been kept at
many places in ahmedabad. One of them include…at Shyamal cross
roads,bodakdev. Also to my most surprise, there are also solar blinkers are
 installed at Crossroads near Cambay grand on our way to Nirma. SO the next
time You pass through that...do observe...!!

SOME AMAZING FACTS:

2. Some of the most advanced solar appliances are becoming popular

among educational institutes and corporate houses in Gujarat to
generate thermal and electric energy form solar source.

Company/ Institute Adoption of Green Source

School of Solar Energy, Currently undertaken research to
Gandhinagar reduce unit cost of photovoltaic cells
IIM – A Solar street lights in Campus
Ganpat Vidhyanagar University Solar street lights in Campus
Intas Biopharma Borocell solar heating panel for their
kitchen facilities
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation Solar powered street lights in AMC
gardens

SO why Does Nirma University lacks it??

3. As per DNA newspaper report on 24th May,2010

The AMC plans to raise at least 1000 solar poles across the city.”As of
now, we have floated tenders for 200 poles. But we aim to have at
least 1000 solar poles in city by 2011” said deputy municipal
commissioner IK Patel.

The use of 200 solar poles will save around 8000 watts a day, each
electricity pole consumes 40 watts, said an AMC official.
4. Many tourist places are also contributing to environment by using solar
equipments. Solar street lights and solar heaters have already made
their way up to Somnath temple Gujarat, Ambaji temple, Rasca temple
and many other temples and remote places. High tech flyover is also
been constructed at Hyderabad containing only solar lights.

5. SOLAR POWER TO LIGHT UP HAWKER SHOPS ( solar lanterns ) :

On an average hawker has to spend around 250-300 rupees every month for
these kerosene and petrol lights they use at their shops. The first step
towards energy efficiency was
Urja Unlimited solar lantern
project in Faridabad. Over 150
hawkers have opted for Urja’s
lanterns which have given them
a breather with their expenses.
The brighter solar lamps have
enlivened their surroundings,
gotten rid of the risk of health
hazards and brightened the
faces of the hawkers. The
constraint is that the equipment
is slightly priced on the higher side, around 2600 to 3600 rupees. Logically,
the amount is equivalent to what the hawkers would spend over a year for
their fuel costs and they need not spend any more on their fuels after this
initial investment. Also, the lanterns can easily serve the users for almost 5
to 7 years.

6. COSTING :
HENCE despite having so many advantages, the concept of solar lights is not
catching up faster due to the cost involved. But they are worth every single
penny that goes in its installation.

SOLAR PARKING

In US, a company named Envision has developed parking lot structures

they call "Solar Trees" for attractively shading parking lots while producing
solar electricity. The company promotes their products as "addressing the
unused millions of acres of parking spaces."

When 'planted' in the parking lot of a typical regional shopping mall, a

grove of the square-shaped shades can generate up to half a megawatt,
enough to power about 500 homes. This is also known as SOLAR PARKING

What are the advantages to putting a solar

structure in a parking lot?

By placing solar structures in a parking lot, clients are

making use of existing real estate and basically having
the parking lot do double duty. Canopies, depending
on the design, can also provide some level of
protection from sun, rain and snow for pedestrians and
cars. Parking canopies also make a strong
environmental statement, showing a client’s
commitment to producing green energy.

How much power does a system generate (power

per avg. canopy)?

The amount of power generated is partially dependent

on geographic location and parking lot orientation and
size of the canopy however, the biggest factor
determining amount of power generated is the panel
efficiency. Solaire recently completed a 1.1MW project
on a corporate campus in New Jersey. The entire project
consists of six rows of Solaire Parking Canopies™
supporting more than 3400 high efficiency solar panels. The canopies cover 60,000
square feet of asphalt, more than 400 parking spaces.

The company has installed solar parking arrays for companies such as
McDonald’s, Dell, and Johnson & Johnson.

For example, the company designed and installed a Solar Grove — an array of pole-
mounted, solar-paneled trees — for Dell last year at its corporate headquarters.
The 110.62-kW system, consisting of 11 Solar Trees, produces approximately
131,000 kWh annually, uses 516 BP Solar photovoltaic modules, and provides
shade for 56 parking
spaces. The solar
array is designed to
generate 130,000
kilowatt hours of
solar power annually,
helping to avoid
around 145,000
pounds of
greenhouse gas
emissions per year.

The structure, located

in an employee parking lot, will shade 50 parking spaces and provide two charging
stations for plug-in electric vehicles.

McDonald’s also installed a Solar Grove and a Clean Charge vehicle charging system
for diners at its San Diego location. The Solar Trees provide shade for diners’
vehicles, while allowing the restaurant to offset some of its energy use through the
grid-connected solar system.
SOLAR ROADWAYS

An Idaho-based company called Solar Roadways has been attempting to solve this energy crisis in its
distinctive way. According to Scott Brusaw of Solar Roadways we can counter the energy crisis by
adopting a unique method.

He predicts a future where interstate highways, state routes, downtown streets, residential streets, or
plain dirt or gravel country roads will be having Solar Road Panels catering to the energy needs of homes
or business units. Scott’s Solar Roadway will be an intelligent, self-
healing, decentralized (secure) power grid.

So how can be these Solar Roadways constructed? It will be a three

layer system. The surface layer will be tough enough to bear the
onslaught of weather and vehicles. The upper layer will be translucent
and hence will be able to let the sunlight pass by. The middle layer will
consist of large array of solar collecting cells. These cells will also store
solar energy for later use. This middle electronic layer will be fitted with
microprocessors that will control lighting, communications, monitoring
etc. The third base layer will distribute power collected by the electronics
layer to the units connected to the Solar Roadways. On top of that they
will also distribute data signals such as phone, TV, Internet to homes
and offices.

If this project can be implemented, it will be greatly beneficial. This

system will eliminate the need of centralized power systems. Roads will
be acting as power grids. This power system will go without poles, relay
stations and transformers. This system can’t be shut down by any
extremists or power company. This system will reduce the dependency
on foreign oil.

Solar Roadways will facilitate the use of electric cars too. A major problem of electric cars is their refueling
or recharging. Since Solar Roadways will have plenty of electricity charging of electric cars won’t pose
any major problems. This will make cross country tour with electric car feasible.

Imagine a world-wide system where the "lit" half of the world is always powering the "dark"
half of the world!

Everyone has power. No more power shortages, no more roaming power outages, no more
need to burn coal (50% of greenhouse gases). Less need for fossil fuels and less dependency
upon foreign oil. Much less pollution. How about this for a long term advantage: an electric
road allows all-electric vehicles to recharge anywhere: rest stops, parking lots, etc. They
would then have the same range as a gasoline-powered vehicle. Internal combustion engines
would become obsolete. Our dependency on oil would come to an abrupt end.

Disadvantage: it is expensive but as the technology is advancing a lot more changes are yet to come in
it.

ADVANTAGES:

If this technology really emerges as a success then, it can really solve out the energy problems in
the world. According to the Report, solar roads only in US having only 10% efficiency can power
the entire US .
SOLAR BILLBOARDS

After the conventional uses of solar energy, Gujarat government has taken a step forward
with an initiative to power the billboards with solar power.

Solar Billboard lighting system strength lies in its unique laminar design which is
produces the highest available brightness levels while still being energy efficient.
This translates into an affordable commercially powerful system.Solar-pow-ered LED
billboard lighting system consists of a solar photovoltaic source and few spotlights
based on the size of area to be lit. The system installs easily and requires no
maintenance or servicing for up to five years.

Billboard lighting is expensive. Traditional billboard

lights require immense up-front and long-term
operating costs. For instance, to install a traditional
billboard lighting system, you will have to pay for the
lighting fixtures, the wiring, the electrical connection,
the electrical materials, trenching and re-landscaping
the wire from the sign to the nearest power
transformer. You will also have to pay every month
for the electricity that you use to light the sign each
night.

A solar billboard light, on the other hand, is extremely affordable, with very low up-
front costs, and zero operating costs. With a solar billboard light, your only up-front
costs are the costs of the system (materials) and
the labor to install the system. Within just a few
years, the solar billboard light will have saved you
enough money (in up-front and residual costs) to
 have completely
paid for itself.
From that point
on, every penny
that you make
from renting
space on your
billboards with
solar billboard
lights will go
directly to your
bottom line and
increase your
profitability.

Applications

• Billboard in outdoors
• Bridge's advertising over the highway
• Billing
• Building logo

So after a few years, don’t get shocked to see the solar billboards showing the
video-advertisement of your favorite brand at the crossroads.

We are not discussing solar vehicles because until the next

generation efficient technology comes in to existence, the
disadvantages of solar vehicles overpower the advantages of
solar vehicles.
Thus SOLAR ENERGY @ roads
can contribute a major portion
to energy harnessing. Imagine
Gujarat can indeed make it to
the next solar city – INDIA is
about to have.

Thanking you,
Poojan Jhaveri ( 10bit063)
Setu Patani ( 10bit041)
Mayank Kothari ( 10bit036)
Nikunj Dobariya ( 10bit030)
Jay Majethiya ( 10bit008)