Skip to main content

The Fully Functional Airport That Runs Entirely On Solar Power

By
Everyday, we hear about the giant strides that are being made by various alternative and sustainable energy sources. But by-and-large, the public is still apprehensive about what kind of impact it will have.




Basic questions such as, ‘can solar power provide round the clock power?’ or ‘can a regular household afford to switch to solar panels?’ or ‘is it really more cost and energy efficient?’ tend to plague alternative energy solutions—proving that, while it’s slowly gaining attention, large scale use remains elusive and uncertain.

But check this out—in India, the Cochin International Airport, which has been outfitted to provide round-the-clock electricity solely through solar energy, is putting all these apprehensions to rest.Everyday, we hear about the giant strides that are being made by various alternative and sustainable energy sources. But by-and-large, the public is still apprehensive about what kind of impact it will have.




Basic questions such as, ‘can solar power provide round the clock power?’ or ‘can a regular household afford to switch to solar panels?’ or ‘is it really more cost and energy efficient?’ tend to plague alternative energy solutions—proving that, while it’s slowly gaining attention, large scale use remains elusive and uncertain.
But check this out—in India, the Cochin International Airport, which has been outfitted to provide round-the-clock electricity solely through solar energy, is putting all these apprehensions to rest.




Last year, the airport installed a solar power system with a 12-megawatt capacity on top of its previous capacity (at 1.1 megawatt peak). This means that the entire airport is now running on solar power; and now, they don’t have to worry about paying for electricity.

$9.3 MILLION

To complete the project, the initiative shelled out $9.3 million to install a total of 46,000 solar panels. For power in the evenings, these panels are able to use the excess energy gathered during the daytime in the grid.
However, Cochin International Airport isn’t exactly the best benchmark for whether or not a major facility can sustainably run on solar energy alone.
While their move to shift to solar is admirable, Cochin is only the seventh busiest airport in India, and they have access to massive unused land nearby (where solar panels could be used). These are elements not commonly found in other airports. But it’s still a notable achievement in terms of solar adoption.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New record energy efficiency for artificial photosynthesis

By
As the world moves towards developing new avenues of renewable energy, the efficiencies of producing fuels such as hydrogen must increase to the point that they rival or exceed those of conventional energy sources to make them a viable alternative. Now researchers at Monash University in Melbourne claim to have created a solar-powered device that produces hydrogen at a world-record 22 percent efficiency, which is a significant step towards making cheap, efficient hydrogen production a reality. Efficiency records for solar-powered hydrogen production have continued to rise over the years, and much more rapidly as the technology and techniques improve. Even as late as December last year  Gizmag reported  a solar-driven hydrogen record efficiency at the time of just 12.3 percent, so this new record shows a very healthy 10 percent improvement on that and beats out the previous record of 18 percent. Splitting water using electricity to produce hydrogen and oxygen has been a...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Japanese skateboard

By
A Japanese engineer just invented a nifty new way to travel: A transporter called a “WalkCar” that’s small, light and apparently easy to use. The product is battery powered and is about the size of a laptop. And although it looks like it can hold much weight and is made from aluminum, it can apparently have as much as 265 lbs on board. VentureBeat  reported  that it can go up to 6.2 miles per hour for up to 7.4 miles. It needs three hours to charge.
Post a Comment
Read more

Wind Turbines

By
The Bahrain World Trade Center is the first skyscraper to have wind turbines integrated into the structure of the building.Three large wind turbines are suspended between two office towers. The towers are aerodynamically tapered to funnel wind and draw air into the turbines. This airfoil tapering allows the wind to enter the turbines at a perpendicular angle and increases air speed as much as 30 percent in each of the 95 ft wide turbine rotors. The turbines supply about 15 percent of the electricity used by the skyscraper - approximately the same amount of electricity used by 300 homes. Source: www.norwin.dk
Post a Comment
Read more