The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has installed solar lights at some places along the Tiruchi-Karur Highway and the Tiruchi-Karaikudi Highway.
The NHAI came out with a plan to install solar lights a couple of years ago on highways on pilot basis in the State. Since it turned out to be economical and cheaper, the NHAI asked its regional officials to install solar lights wherever required.
On the Tiruchi-Karur Highway, these lights were installed at three locations on the medians. More than 20 lights were installed along with solar panels near Kulithalai. Arrangements were made in such a way to supply power generated from the solar panels to illuminate the LED lights.
“The facility is created wherever it is required. Each LED illuminates an area in up to 30-feet radius. It improves the visibility for motorists at night. It is expected that the facility will minimise the accidents,” says an official of NHAI in Tiruchi. He said the solar lights would bring down power bills of toll operators, besides being a clean energy option.
Similarly, solar lights along with panels have been installed on the Tiruchi-Karaikudi Highway as well.
An official said that 25 LED solar lights were installed at a few places. It had received good feedback. However, there was no plan to provide solar energy to the high-mast lights as the height of the posts was more than 10 metres. Moreover, the energy received from solar panels was insufficient to energise heavy duty lights.
