Swiss startup Sun-Ways has launched a pilot solar power plant by installing panels between the rails of an existing railway line. Almost every country in the world has railways, and these are huge, unoccupied areas. Installing solar panels directly into the track would significantly increase energy production without the need to allocate land for the construction of separate power plants.
Image source: Keystone / Jean-Christophe Bott
The idea of placing solar panels between the rails of a railway track is not new. However, the Swiss were the first to perfect it – providing the ability to quickly install and just as quickly dismantle the panels. Dismantling is necessary for inspection and repair of the track, which are strictly regulated by the relevant departments of all countries. Railway infrastructure is a strategically important industry, and its operation is accompanied by increased safety requirements.
The Swiss authorities have given Sun-Ways permission to install unique panels on a 100-metre section of an existing highway near the small village of Buttes in the canton of Neuchâtel in the west of the country. Trains on this section travel at low speeds – up to 70 km/h. Since the installation of quickly removable solar panels is a new thing, the authorities preferred to play it safe and demanded three years of testing instead of the six months planned by the company, including a ban on experiments with panels on busier highways.
For installing and removing panels between the rails, the Swiss company Scheuchzer has developed a special installation machine that speeds up the process. With its help, 1,000 m² of panels are installed in just a few hours. If the entire Swiss railway network (approximately 5,320 km, excluding tunnels and poorly lit sections) were equipped with such panels, the annual energy production could amount to 1,000 GWh – about 2% of the country’s electricity needs.
The authorities allocated a little over $700,000 for the pilot project. It will allow 16,000 kWh of electricity to be supplied to the local grid per year. Representatives from the USA, China, Japan and South Korea have already expressed interest in the project. Moreover, South Korea plans to launch a pilot project using similar quick-release panels next year.
«”But the panels will get dirty,” the reader will note. Yes, but to clean them, it is proposed to equip the last car of each train with a special brush-roller, which will allow maintaining the panels in the best possible working condition. A magnificent plan – reliable as a Swiss watch.