Solar panels have been successfully tested at a handful of bus shelters, including this one on Regent Road. Picture: Gareth Easton
THE city's bus shelters may not seem the sunniest of places when the wind's blowing, the rain's pouring down and the bus is taking an age to arrive.
But, despite the apparent disadvantages of the Edinburgh climate, solar power is to be used to light up more than 100 of the city's busiest bus stops.
The move - which will see the bus stops light up when passengers walk in after dark - follows successful trials of the new technology at a handful of shelters across the Capital.
The city council hopes the move will make passengers feel safer at night and deter vandals, as well as making it easier to read timetables.
Although the solar panels will cost £220,000 to install, it will prove cheaper in the long-run than laying electricity cables to the shelters.
The council hopes to eventually have solar panels - which are installed on the shelter's roofs - on most of the local authority's 1100 shelters.
Initially, more than 100 bus stops along the A8 and between Leith and Straiton are set to get solar-powered lighting.
Councillors are expected to agree next week to spend cash awarded to the city by SESTRAN, the regional transport partnership for south-east Scotland, on the project.
A council spokeswoman said: "The roll-out of solar power to 110 bus shelters across the city highlights the council's commitment to using sustainable resources.
"In the past the difficulty and high cost of connecting to a mains electrical supply has restricted the use of lighting within bus shelters.
"The fast-developing technology of solar-power systems makes it possible to improve lighting levels at most bus stops."
The bus shelters are lit up at night using energy stored by the south-facing solar panels fixed to the shelters' roofs.
It means there is low-level lighting on throughout the night, while an infrared sensor fully activates the light when it detects someone nearby - and remains on until shortly after the passenger has left the immediate area.
Of Edinburgh's 1600 bus shelters, only the 500 owned and maintained by advertising company Adshel, are currently equipped with lights - which are switched on at the same time as street lighting.
Technology company Carmanah is responsible for designing the equipment used in the Capital.
