Swiss Startup to Pioneer Solar Panels on Railway Tracks

The necessity to accelerate Europe’s energy transition has led developers to explore unconventional surfaces for solar installations. From roadsides to reservoirs, and even farms, solar systems are finding new homes, but Sun-Ways’ approach to integrate them with railway infrastructure is unique. The company plans to use a specialized train, developed by Scheuchzer, a Swiss track maintenance firm, to lay down photovoltaic panels. This train can deploy up to 1,000 m2 of solar panels daily using a piston mechanism that unrolls the panels directly onto the tracks.

Initially, the project faced regulatory hurdles, with the Federal Office of Transport initially denying the proposal as a precaution. However, after ten months of building and refining prototypes, Sun-Ways has finally been granted the necessary permits. During the three-year test phase, 48 panels will be installed over a 100-meter section of track managed by transN, the canton’s public transport provider, costing approximately CHF 585,000 (€623,000).

The electricity generated by these solar panels will be integrated into the local power grid rather than being used directly for railway operations due to the complexity of direct usage. Sun-Ways estimates that if expanded nationwide, the solar panels could cover an area equivalent to 760 football fields and produce about one Terawatt-hour (TWh) per year, which would account for around 2% of Switzerland’s total energy needs.

The potential for global application is vast, with similar projects being considered in Spain, Romania, and South Korea. Despite some concerns from the International Union of Railways about potential risks such as micro-cracks or fire hazards, Sun-Ways is confident in the durability and safety of their panels, which are designed to be more resistant than standard models and equipped with anti-reflection technology to prevent distraction to train drivers.

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