KANNUR: India’s first solar-powered air-conditioned local bus service has been launched in Kannur, offering passengers a comfortable travel experience amid the prevalent hot weather in the region. Sangeet Travels operates the bus along the Kannur-Kandyparam route, providing relief to those travelling between Kannur town and the District Hospital with five daily trips.
Satheesh Chemmarathil, the owner of Sangeet Travels, told TNIE that the idea to install solar-powered air conditioning in his bus had been on his mind for a long time. “As a dealer for a Make In India startup AC company that uses BLDC technology to reduce energy consumption by 70 per cent, I wanted to implement this in my bus. From January 2024, one of our newly launched buses has an air conditioner powered by three solar panels mounted on the roof,” said Satheesh.
Satheesh obtained special permission from the Kannur RTO to make modifications to the bus, enabling the installation of air conditioning equipment. “Since the AC operates on solar power, there’s no connection to the engine, eliminating additional fuel usage or pollution. Moreover, we are not charging passengers extra for this service,” he added.
“Since this was the first time that the technology was used in a local bus, there were some mistakes. We have corrected all the minute mistakes we found and now the technology is 90 per cent complete. I am getting great responses from the passengers. Since it is a local service, the majority of the passengers are commoners. We are experiencing extremely hot weather conditions. So I thought this would be the best thing I could do for the people. Many other bus operators have also been contacting me seeking help in installing the system in their buses as well,” he added.
The initial investment for the solar system and air conditioning in the bus was `5 lakh. In addition, Satheesh had previously introduced a GPS-based bus stop announcement system in his buses.