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SINGAPORE: Your Singapore bus trip could soon be partially powered by the sun.
Bus operator Go-Ahead Singapore has installed ultra-thin solar panels on the roofs of two of its buses, which will run on service 15. This is the first time solar panels of this type have been installed on buses here.
The 1.6mm thick panels will convert solar energy into electricity to charge the bus batteries.
“This reduces the load on the vehicle’s alternator and in turn saves fuel and reduces carbon emissions,” Go-Ahead Singapore Engineering Director Leonard Lee said on Tuesday (March 30).
“The entire configuration weighs less than 20kg – that’s very negligible compared to the weight of the bus as a whole, so it won’t negate the (fuel) savings.”
Ultra-thin panels were chosen over conventional solar panels due to their lightweight and flexible nature.
The buses underwent “rigorous safety assessments” by the Land Transportation Authority before being approved for testing on public roads, Go-Ahead said.
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Service 15, one of the routes where an electric bus was tested about four years ago, is a 33km route that begins at the Pasir Ris bus interchange and runs through areas such as Tampines and Marine Parade.
The company had considered testing shorter routes, such as food services, but decided on a longer route to better test the system, Lee said.
A Go-Ahead bus equipped with a solar panel at Loyang Bus Depot on March 30, 2021. (Photo: Zhaki Abdullah)
The buses began operating on Tuesday and will run for six months until the end of September.
The panels are part of a test to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of buses in using solar energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption.
Panels will be initially inspected weekly for two months, after which the inspection schedule will be reviewed.
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Go-Ahead Group, the parent company of Go-Ahead Singapore, has operated 18 solar-powered buses in Southampton, Great Britain, for over a year under its subsidiary Bluestar.
The use of these panels has resulted in a saving of 1,400 liters of diesel per bus per year, said the transport operator.
This translates into reductions of around 3.7 tons of carbon emissions per bus, said Mr. Lee of Go-Ahead.
“It was based on the success of that trial in Southampton that we decided to bring the idea to Singapore and indeed we believe that solar panels should be even more effective in Singapore’s climate,” said Go-Ahead Singapore’s managing director. Andrew Thompson.
The two buses with solar panels meet the Euro 6 emissions standard for diesel vehicles, he added.
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The firm may expand its solar panel installation to other buses, including electric ones, depending on the findings of the current test, he said.
As part of Singapore’s 2040 Land Transport Master Plan, diesel buses will be phased out and replaced by cleaner energy models, including diesel-electric hybrids and fully electric buses.
“Buses are a very efficient form of public transportation – they transport a lot of people much more efficiently than cars,” Thompson said. “By installing solar panels, we can make diesel buses even more environmentally friendly and efficient.”
