Phoenix city in Arizona has become the first in the US to harness solar energy to provide cool air to commuters waiting at one of its urban light rail stations. At the push of a button, chilled air from solar powered coolers will blow into the rail station to provide comfort in a city where daytime temperatures can reach a scorching 118 degrees F. The chilled air can bring down the temperatures inside the steel and glass covered rail station by 40 degrees. The chiller will shut off after 15 minutes of operation to conserve energy. This system will operate in the daytime during the summer months, i.e., from May to September.
The initiative for this development was taken by the city Mayor Phil Gordon, who brought the idea back after a visit to Dubai. The Dubai Metro, which opened in 2009 as the world’s largest fully automatic driver-less metro system, has also set some very impressive benchmarks in sustainability and passenger comfort both on-board its trains and at its rail stations.
Mayor Gordon took the idea to the local utility NRG Energy, which agreed to fund this $300,000 project. NRG will also operate and maintain the system. After learning from this first rail station, Phoenix city administration plans to extend this concept to other rail stations as well and fund the chiller installation from the revenues they get from advertising concessions at the rail stations.
