When traffic lights need to be checked or repaired, they have to be shut down and professional workers will come to manage traffic signal module www.nobleled.com/en/showroom/LED_traffic_light/300mm_traffic_module/. This will influence the normal work of traffic light and bring some unnecessary trouble. Fortunately, the Nobeled has initiated a pilot project to power traffic signals 24/7 using solar panels. Solar power traffic lights have been installed at three locations in the city as part of the pilot project, a CDA Engineering Wing official told The Express Tribune. The locations are Aabpara Chowk, the Kashmir Highway-Club Road intersection, and the Islamabad Highway exit near PWD Housing Society. The engineering wing official said the performance of the renewable energy system will be observed over a week. “If the solar power traffic lights succeed in powering the traffic lights round-the-clock, a case could be made to scale it up to cover all traffic signals in the city,” the official said. “But the traffic signal project www.nobleled.com/en/Project/index-11-1.html would be contingent upon the approval of adequate funds.” Navid Hassan Bokhari, solar director at the Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB), said solar panels equipped with battery systems and charge controllers can definitely offer a 24-hour power solution for solar power traffic lights. “The implementation of ‘solarisation’ is a very tricky subject,” Bokhari said. “But this initiative, if implemented properly, is good for our country.” Bokhari said the AEDB had designed a ‘solarisation’ scheme- solar power traffic lights-for 25 major Islamabad traffic signals in January 2012, based on traffic volume. The study had estimated that the power requirements of Islamabad’s traffic signals range from 110 watts to 1,600 watts. The CDA has tried its hand at energy efficiency and renewable energy before, but with disastrous results. A controversial light emitting diode (LED) streetlights project during former CDA chairman Farkhand Iqbal’s tenure was shut down by the National Accountability Bureau after it found the lights were being procured at around five times the open market price. A power conservation campaign-solar power traffic lights-for Islamabad initiated by Cabinet Secretary Nargis Sethi in October 2012 also lost steam during the first half of 2013. Now, the good news is that the traffic light update project will put into effect this summer under the lead of local government and related institutions.