The suburban township of Sansia (三峽) in Taipei County has the nation’s smartest bus stop — it is solar-powered and tells the arrival time of your next bus, thanks to land developer Farglory Group (遠雄企業團).
At a cost of NT$2 million (US$62,100), the state-of-the-art bus stop, which features a thin-film solar panel on the roof, represents efforts by Farglory to join forces with the local government to build a green city with low carbon emissions, Farglory chairman Chao Teng-hsiung (趙藤雄) told a launch ceremony on Wednesday.
With 2.5 hours of sunlight each day, the bus stop will save 1,660 kilowatt hours of electricity and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 1,059kg each year — the equivalent of 212 trees, he said.
The company has vowed to donate other bus stops topped with thin-film solar panels in Linkou (林口) and Shulin (樹林) , a total contribution of NT$6 million, he said.
The amount doesn’t include maintenance fees over the next three years before the county government takes them over.
Taipei County has installed 11 solar-powered bus stops since May last year, not including the three advanced stops donated by Farglory.
However, none of the stops have batteries and they are powered by the county’s power grid after dark.
Thin-film solar panels feature more acute sensitivity to light than traditional panels and are thus capable of generating power even on a cloudy day, the company said.
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