The world’s first fully solar-powered airport
UK Telegraph | Soo Kim | 21 Aug 2015
India has unveiled the first airport in the world to operate completely on solar energy.
A solar power plant with 46,150 solar panels has been installed across 45 acres of land near the cargo area of Cochin International Airport (CIAL). It supplies the airport with 50,000 to 60,000 units of electricity per day, making the airport “absolutely power neutral”, according to a statement by CIAL.
Cochin International Airport has already been using solar energy from two smaller power plants installed in 2013 Photo: Cochin International Airport Limited
India's leading airport in sustainability had already been using solar energy from two smaller power plants installed in 2013. But the latest addition brings its solar energy capacity up to 12 megawatts (MW) of power per day, a sufficient amount to run all of the airport’s daily functions.
The new plant is expected to generate 18 million units of solar power annually, an amount that could charge around 10,000 homes in the country for one year. The sustainable project is expected to offset carbon emissions by more than 3 lakh (300,000) metric tons over the next 25 years, which is said to be the equivalent of planting three million trees or not driving for 750 miles, according to the airport.
Cochin International is the busiest and largest airport in the state of Kerala and the third busiest in India, according to international passenger traffic, having received more than 3,750,000 passengers between 2013 and 2014...
Full Article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/india/11816236/The-worlds-first-fully-solar-powered-airport.html
Solar cells near cargo terminal Photo: Binu jayakrishnan
At 10 Degrees N Latitude the panels are almost horizontal
Coordinates of Cochin Airport: 10.155°N 76.391°E
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochin_International_Airport
