Report on effectiveness of solar panel installation for signaling system. 1.

Introduction:A solar cell (also called photovoltaic cell or photoelectric cell) is a solid state electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect which include the following steps 1. Photons in sunlight hit the solar panel and are absorbed by semiconducting materials, such as silicon. 2. Electrons are knocked loose from their atoms, causing an electric potential difference. Current starts flowing through the material to cancel the potential and this electricity is captured. Due to the special composition of solar cells, the electrons are only allowed to move in a single direction. 3. An array of solar cells converts solar energy into a usable amount of direct current (DC) electricity.

2. Application in signalling system Railway, (Jabalpur Division).

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In non RE areas the signalling system depends on the state electricity supply, which is non reliable, erratic and is unable to take the load of IPS provided for panel interlocking, so solar panels were commissioned, so that batteries of IPS could be charged through the solar energy. This resulted in increasing the reliability of the power supply, along with the savings on the electricity expenditure, as after one time investment on installation of solar panels the electricity produced is free for the life time of the panels which is usually more than 20 years, if well maintained. This has also resulted in minimizing the use of diesel generators at all the stations.

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Methodology adopted for assessing the savings/effectiveness of the installations and the results obtained

On 22nd and 23rd December 2011, various parameters were measured for sample station of ADTL. These parameters include 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Battery voltage (D.C.), SMR input voltage (A.C.), SMR input current (A.C.), SMR output voltage (D.C.) SMR output current (D.C.) SOLAR Output voltage (D.C.) SOLAR Output current (D.C.)

Power factor of .8 is assumed CASE A :Saving over 24 hours Total no. of units consumed were calculated by multiplying the SMR input voltage and current and assumed power factor and considering the total no. of hours in a day i.e. 24, as a result of total electricity consumed at the station with solar panels was reflected. RESULT= 42.30 units per day

Total no. of units consumed at night were calculated, by multiplying the SMR input voltage and current and assumed power factor and considering the total no. of hours in a solar night i.e. 12, then these units were doubled. as a result total electricity that might have been consumed at the station prior to installation of solar panels was reflected. RESULT= 53.58 units per day

NET SAVING= 11.28 units per day or 21.05%. The percentage saving shown nullify the effect of errors that occur due to assumption of power factor. CASE B: Savings when sun light is available (900 hours to 1600 hours) Considering the fact that solar power is available only when effective sunlight is there, so if we calculate net saving over the time period from 900 hours to 1600 hours. Net savings come out to be 11.16 units per day or 67.39% CASE C: Current Savings when DC output current of SMR and DC output of Solar supply are considered (900 hours to 1600 hours) It comes out to be %

4. Advantages: 1. It has improved the reliability and quality of power supply for signaling system. 2. Very little maintenance is required to keep solar cells running. 3. Almost Zero Costs to run the system after installation. 4. Solar power technology is improving consistently over time, in terms of efficiency and costs 5. Clean, Renewable source.

5. Conclusion: Though one time investment in solar panels is high but this investment has definitely resulted in the improvement of signalling system