Muntwyler – India

Swiss Partners

Solarcenter Muntwyler AG und Berner Fachhochschule, Technik und Informatik, Burgdorf,
www.ti.bfh.ch,
Urs Muntwyler

Project Type:

Pilot project

Technology:

Photovoltaics

Country:

India

Project Status:

Completed

Project Start:

2009

End of Project:

2015

Contract:

2009.07

Documentation

Swiss Contribution

The Swiss expert with his broad experience in solar energy as well as in electric vehicles has the optimal combination of expertise in order to support the project. Other Swiss technology partners will be involved in the project, as necessary.

Description

For several years now, Clean Air Island, the Indian NGO partner, aims at improving the quality of life in the city center of Mumbai. Its three main types of activity are greening projects, vermiculture for the management of organic waste and electric vehicles.

Within this demonstration project, electric vehicles will be used for the first time for public transportation and their batteries will be charged with solar power; also a novelty in India. The electric bus (30 seats) and the electric maxi-cab (10 seats) will provide a ring-route service between two railway stations and the Nariman Point business area; while transporting some of the thousands of commuters in this area. The vehicles will charge their discharged batteries at the bus depot, where the photovoltaic modules supplying the power are installed on the depot’s roof. This will be done with the help of a fast transfer charge system or by exchanging flat batteries with fully charged ones.