SYDNEY, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Perth, in the state of Western Australia (WA), is reputedly the nation's sunniest state capital, and now it is about to make good use of that natural resource by installing solar panels at about 50 of its train and bus stations.

The electricity generated by the bus station solar panels will be used for lighting along with powering the ticket machines and signage, while electricity generated at the train stations will also power lifts and escalators.

Announcing the 1.8-million-Australian dollar (1.38-million-U.S. dollar) project on Wednesday, WA Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said the combined amount of electricity would be enough to power the equivalent of 360 households per year.

"Combined with our electric bus trial, which is due to start next year, we're trialling new technologies that will support local jobs and help make our public transport system more sustainable," Saffioti said.

The rollout is expected to be completed within about a year.

Western Australians are already among the keenest in the country to use the renewable energy. According to Australian Bureau of Statistics from late 2019, the state's population of 2,630,600 used about 616 watts of small scale solar energy per person, which is well above the national average of 505 watts.

Those figures continue to grow with WA households installing a record number of solar panels on their rooftops in 2020, even while the state was facing an economic downturn.

Figures from the WA government showed about 300 megawatts of solar capacity were added to household rooftops last year and all up there were 1.3 gigawatts' worth of small-scale solar systems included in the state's biggest power grid. Enditem

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