The new initiative is a boost towards Piyush Goyal-led Indian Railways’ goal to develop a green network and tap into natural resources. The solar water coolers are based upon a cooling mechanism with the utilization of solar energy, and function on zero bill, zero maintenance, as compared to the electrical coolers. According to Indian Railways, the solar water coolers were conceptualised and successfully commissioned by the electrical department of the Mumbai Division of Central Railway (CR) zone.
In the year 2018, solar coolers were installed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Asangaon stations. Now, the solar powered natural water coolers have been installed at the Roha, Apta, Pen, Neral, Lonavala stations of the Mumbai Division and also at the Talegaon station of the Pune Division.
The solar powered natural water cooler works on the principle of heat transfer, when water is passed through the copper coils, which are covered with a cooling fabric. The fabric is active through the water dripping system. Through the process of conduction, the water inside the coil gets cooled due to the natural evaporation system.
These solar powered coolers are much more durable than the conventional coolers. With the active solar renewable energy, these solar water coolers are capable of being operational for more than 10 years, as compared to the conventional ones, whose life is just around four-five years. Also, the cooling water storage capacity is around 150 litres and the solar panel capacity is 25 wp.
Some of the advantages of the solar water coolers are as follows:
- The solar water coolers function on zero bill with zero maintenance as compared to the electrical water coolers, which generally consume around 1620 Kwh power per unit, every year.
- The solar water coolers save around Rs 29,160 per unit, every year.
- Due to the presence of copper coils, solar powered water coolers provide immense health benefits. This is because copper can destroy bacteria and viruses.
- The water quality gets improved with the medicinal quality of copper. In turn, this helps in weight loss, faster healing and regulation of thyroid glands