Power outages: Five traffic lights to run on solar power by June 10

Traffic signals at all 138 junctions to be converted to run on solar energy in phases.

LAHORE:

Agreements have been signed with three companies for the conversion of traffic lights to solar power at five junctions in the city, with Charing Cross to be the first to be converted by May 30, Traffic Engineering and Transport Planning Agency (Tepa) Chief Engineer Saeed Akhtar told The Express Tribune.

Work on installing solar panels at three junctions – at Charing Cross and Siddique Trade Centre by Bio Gas and at Garden Town Y Junction by Izhar Private Limited – will begin next week, Akhtar said. The work is to be finished by June 10.

The idea to convert all traffic signals in the city to solar power was proposed by the caretaker provincial government in view of traffic jams caused when traffic lights stop functioning during power outages.



The sponsoring companies were given specifications for what types of invertors, solar panels and poles were to be installed and the agreement was signed on Wednesday. However, Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) officials said that Qarshi was yet to finalise certain details and would not likely start work on converting the traffic signals at Firdaus Market and Centre Point next week.

The companies will pay for the conversion in return for advertising. PHA officials said that the advertisements would not be in the form of large hoardings, but would consist of just the name of the company in a “limited space” at the junction.

Tepa Chief Engineer Saeed Akhtar said that they were looking for more investors to participate in the effort to convert all the city’s traffic signals to solar power.

He said that the technical details had been finalised and Tepa would soon present a proposal to the provincial government for the first phase of this process.

The idea to get private investors involved with the project came from the traffic police, Tepa officials said. “They proposed it and convinced the authorities to consider the option,” said a Tepa official. The traffic police itself has a private sector sponsor. Its events and accessories are sponsored by a private motor oil company. A private company also paints Lahore police barriers and boards at police stations. Tepa is also looking for sponsors.



Tepa is to propose the initial conversion of around 30 of the 138 signals (excluding Metro Bus signals) in Lahore. These signals are on busy roads such as The Mall, Jail Road, Main Boulevard Gulberg and Main Boulevard Garden Town.

Dr Naghman Khan, a foreign faculty member at Government College University and the director of Future Energy, a company that addresses energy problems in buildings, welcomed the planned conversion, saying it should have been done earlier. “Street lights should also have bee converted to solar power a long time ago,” he said. He added that solar power was the best option given the high level of sunshine in the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2013.