Kolkata: Solar energy powers New Town smart bench

KOLKATA: New Town has got the first-of-its-kind smart solar bench having LED ambient lights with display and sound, 4G enabled hot spot, USB charging ports, temperature and humidity sensor and e-bicycle charging points. To be run on solar energy, the bench has been installed as a prototype and would be set up in other places in New Town if found viable and successful.
New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) chairman Debashis Sen who inaugurated the solar bench on Wednesday said this is a prototype which has been developed by a company which as of now will act as a proof of concept. “An NKDA team will look into how the prototype works to see if more such solar benches could be spread out across the township,” he said. The smart solar bench will be open for 24 hours for people to use free of cost.
People who would like to take rest can sit on the bench and spend time browsing the net, using the Wi-Fi user ID and password which is mentioned on the side panel along with other features. The bench has been made with fiber metal. A LED panel has been fixed on top of the side panel which will generate solar power from sunlight. The bench will light up automatically when somebody sits on it after dark.
There is also a display board on the panel which will continuously mention the temperature and humidity level of any given time of the day. There are three USB charging points and two wireless charging pads along with a charging point for e-cycles.