London bus shelters to be lit by solar power

Transport for London has unveiled three new solar-powered bus shelters along The Ridgeway in Enfield, North London, as a pilot study prior to the conversion of 200 shelters across the city. All 200 are located in more remote parts of Greater London, some distance from national grid electricity supplies, making their connection prohibitively expensive, a TfL spokesman told edie.

Until the construction of one of the new bus shelters, located outside a school, pupils had been accompanied to their buses by the school caretaker with a torch.

“It is a great relief to us all – parents, pupils and staff that London Buses have come up with solar energy as the solution,” said Andrew Tardios, Headmaster of St John’s Senior School. There is now a sense of safety and security at the bus stop, he said.

“We are certain that solar energy will play a significant role in future bus shelter installations,” said Jonathan Morely, Technical Director of Trueform, the company that is supplying and building the new bus shelters.

Three companies have provided solar cells: Carmanah, Solar Century, and Sepco. The trial is being used to establish the technical specification of the system for the rest of the 200 shelters, which will probably use components from all three companies, the spokesman told edie.