Police in New Delhi give thumbs up to BEL PV-powered traffic signal

After six months of testing a stand-alone solar-powered traffic signal system in New Delhi, the city's traffic department has decided to purchase four more systems from Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL), a Bangalore-based manufacturer of monocrystalline cells, modules, and turnkey PV systems.

© Bharat Electronics Ltd. Stop-and-go PV: This BEL solar-powered traffic signal in New Delhi includes a countdown timer.

In an April 13 article in the Times of India, Maxwell Pereira, joint commissioner of police in New Delhi, called the test system "satisfactory," unlike an unsuccessful project at three intersections four years ago.

J. R. Singh, BEL's deputy engineer for international marketing, says the company has sold about 60 systems, including 40 in Bangalore, over the last three years. He says BEL started marketing the $20,000 systems to customers in Latin America and South Africa three months ago, but declined to give details. The turnkey systems, including traffic signal, charge controller, battery, and LED lights, also contain a countdown timer that displays the amount of time left before the signal changes.
 

William P. Hirshman
© PHOTON International, May 2002