Photo: Sun-Ways
A Swiss start-up will test the idea of slotting solar panels between train tracks during a $560,000 pilot project this summer. Sun-ways will use a regular train that’s been retrofitted to install about 60 solar panels on a 140-foot stretch near Neuchâtel. For now, 100% of the electricity will go to the grid to power nearby households but eventually, the team plans to use some of it to power trains. They say 5,000 kilometers of “solar rails” (the current length of the entire Swiss railroad network) can generate 1 gigawatt of energy per year, enough to power about 750,000 homes. Eventually, the team plans to use a custom train made of two carriages which will make it possible to “unroll” interconnected panels without the train ever needing to stop. Two competitors. Greenrail in Italy and Bankset Energy in England, are testing similar concepts.
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