Brighton-based community bus operator, The Big Lemon, has launched the first of two battery-electric Optare Solos, in a ceremony with local Green Party MP Caroline Lucas.
It is the UK’s first solar-powered bus.
Used on its route 52 (Woodingdean-city centre), the secondhand bus, previously used in Leeds, has been converted a 133 kWh electric bus by Magtec in Sheffield. It has a 140-mile range.
A 21kW solar array on the roof of the Big Lemon’s Whitehawk depot, charges batteries, which then charge the bus overnight.
A second Solo, currently diesel, is due to be converted later this summer.
