Switzerland Set to Roll Out Solar Panels Between Railway Tracks–A World First

A startup called Sun-Ways is taking an innovative approach to renewable energy. They plan to optimize solar power by installing power panels between railway tracks. As opposed to fields of solar panels to catch the energy, these panels do not occupy any landscape or impact the environment. Sun-Ways is waiting for the approval of the Federal Office of Transport before proceeding to install their panels on a section of the Swiss national railway. 

“Unrolling” Solar Panels Between Railway Tracks

The railway in Switzerland has tracks that extend over 2,000 miles long. If all of them had solar panels, they could generate an estimation of over “1 TWh (Terawatt-hour) of solar-powered electricity per year, or 30% of the consumption of all public transport companies in Switzerland,” reads the Sun-Way website. One TWh equals to around 2% of the country’s total energy consumption. [1]

This concept has been explored before, the idea of installing solar panels economically in areas where flat grounds are also used by other industries such as warehousing or pastures for cattle. For instance, some companies use a strategy called agrivolatics, which involves placing panels over agriculture. Meanwhile, areas in California and India optimize their canal networks to capture solar power without sacrificing much land. However, Sun-Ways is the first initiative to try to use railroad tracks. 

Sun-Ways has created a train car that can place the solar panels along the track as if it’s rolling out a carpet. This method saves on labor costs. “There are over a million kilometers of railway lines in the world,” says co-founder Baptiste Danichert. “We believe that 50% of the world’s railways could be equipped with our system.” [2]

However, although many are excited to see how this trial goes, others are skeptical. For instance, some are concerned that the sun’s reflection on the panels could distract drivers or cause fires in green areas. Additionally, this project would be a waste in areas with a lot of snow. Plus, dust and debris could decrease the effectiveness of the panels, and damage from the rail vibrations could ruin the technology. Still, the startup assures that all of these issues were accounted for during their building stages. For example, they plan to attach brushes underneath the trains to sweep the panels during their regular commutes. Plus, the panels have an anti-reflection filter to protect drivers and have a system to melt any frozen rain or snow. [3]

Solar-Powered Trains

But the most novel about these solar panels is that they are easily uninstalled, an important step for maintenance work. The power captured by the solar panels would go into the power grid and to provide energy for homes. Using the energy to power the railway would be a lot more complicated to set up. However, it’s not impossible. A railway in the United Kingdom became directly powered by a photovoltaic solar farm. This project was the vision of the Riding Sunbeams company. Their goal is to power trains through sustainable and environmentally-friendly means instead of diesel. [4]

“Matchmaking the UK’s biggest electricity user, the railways, with the nation’s favorite energy source, solar power, looks like the start of the perfect relationship,” says Leo Murray, the director of the Riding Sunbeams project. “Helping to get the railways off fossil fuels in this way will cut running costs and benefit local communities at the same time as helping to tackle the climate crisis.” [5]

With Riding Sunbeams and Sun-Ways and similar innovations, the future looks bright when it comes to sustainable railway travel. “Europe has more than 260,000 km of railways and the rest of the world more than 1,000,000 km,” reads the Sun-Ways website. “The technical development of Sun-Ways is almost complete and once the authorizations have been obtained, it will be possible to quickly install several hundred km of railway tracks by 2025 in Switzerland and by 2030 in Europe.”

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