Vijayawada, June 30 (TIWN) The Vijayawada railway station under the South Central Railway (SCR) zone has emerged as the first station in India to equip platforms with Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) solar roof, installing a total capacity of 130 kWp of solar power.

On Wednesday, divisional railway manager P. Srinivas virtually commissioned a 65 kWp solar roof at the railway station.  "With this, Vijayawada station now boasts of an innovative solar photovoltaic cover-over-platform (COP) having the highest capacity of 130 kWp across the Indian Railways network," said a railway zone official.  He said the BIPV solar roof with integrated solar panels without any galvanised sheets will act as a shelter for passengers, in addition to harnessing solar energy.  The solar panels will enable the busy railway station to save up to Rs 8 lakh in power tariff annually, catering to 18 per cent of the station's power requirement.