Evaluating the Feasibility of Solar-Powered Escalators in Dhaka: A Comprehensive Case Analysis

A large number of foot-over bridges are established in Dhaka city for crossing the road for pedestrians safely. Due to the height of the stairs, people often refuse to use the foot-over bridges that leads to road accidents in busy roads. Considering this situation, stairs are replaced by escalators in some areas in Dhaka which are connected to grid power. Since the grid energy is produced mostly from fossil fuels, a large amount of CO2 is released into the environment every year which leads temperature rise in the atmosphere. In this paper, we propose a solar powered escalator system where the solar panels are placed on the roof of the foot-over bridge and case studies show that about 50% to 60% of the required energy can be produced from the existing roof top area which will be environmentally friendly. Rest of the energy can be used from grid. The investigation shows that the proposed solar powered based system in the escalators of two areas in Dhaka will benefit both economically and environmentally. Moreover, the analysis shows that about 15 to 33 Tons of CO2 can be reduced with an economic benefit of 1.1 Lac to 3.2 Lac BDT every year.