The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) rejects the demand to run BEST buses on solar energy due to the non-availability of the technology in the country. The power is generated from solar panels which are mounted on roof of the vehicles.
In October 2021, BMC group leader and BJP coporator Prabhakar Shinde demanded to run BEST buses on solar energy. He said, “This will help BEST cut the cost of electric buses and manage the financial losses.”
The BEST administration said that there is no such technology available in the country for rooftop solar buses yet. There are also many technical issues related to solar rooftop buses as per the transport department.
“The electricity generated through the solar panels is very little and to run a bus on solar energy will require mounting a large number of solar panels on rooftops. Also, these buses come under the category of heavy vehicles so installing solar panels on rooftops is not feasible,” said the BEST.
Recently, The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) also planned to convert 200 diesel buses to green electric buses and it plans to have 100% electric buses by the end of 2022.
BEST can install Roof top SPV panel and store the generated electricity in batteries to be used in Citi Busses. This can be tried at all depots and even in the multiple bus shelters all around. Moreover that could have a solar farm to generate electricity and wheel it for their needs