Wednesday, October 16, 2024 A Swiss company has achieved a groundbreaking innovation by creating a removable solar panel system designed to be deployed along railway tracks. After navigating a complex regulatory process, the company is now ready to roll out this pioneering technology in a pilot project on a live train route in Neuchâtel. This marks the first time such a system has been developed and tested in the real world, offering a new approach to harnessing solar energy in the rail industry.
A detachable solar carpet installed between railway tracks Start-up Sun-Ways, in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne, has patented an innovative system of solar panels designed to fit between operational railway tracks, allowing trains to pass safely over them. This cutting-edge technology is installed using a specialized train developed by Swiss track maintenance company Scheuchzer, which employs a piston mechanism to unroll a one-meter-wide carpet of solar panels at an impressive rate of up to 1,000 square meters per day. What truly sets this system apart is its unique ability to be easily removed and reinstalled, addressing a major challenge in the solar industry.
Until now, the difficulty of removing panels for essential maintenance access had been a significant obstacle, but Sun-Ways has overcome this barrier, offering a flexible solution for integrating solar energy into railway infrastructure. A pilot project generating 16,000 kWh .
