Swiss startup Sun-ways is planning to build a 18 kW pilot PV system between the racks of a 100-m linear section of a railway line in the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel.
They’re not. Swiss rails are extra made so that you can walk over them. All electricity goes overhead for security reasons. If anything, they would probably tap into this overhead-grid.
cleaning & maintenance
possibly. But I can very easily imagine specialized trains cleaning them once every day
vandalism
not really a problem here in switzerland
modifying the track to limit the conductive paths (assuming they’re used for this).
They’re most likely not used for this. All electricity is overhead for security reasons, routing solar energy through the rails would destroy that. Doing that (beyond the 100m test-track) would mean a prolongued political discussion.
So I have a solar setup-older panels, like 15 years old. They can be 3/4 obscured by a building or whatever, and still make 85% of what they’re rated to.
Which is fucking awesome. Right now, they’re covered in so much dust I can see the ‘clean’ spots where the morning dew condensed on them, and they’re still kicking 20 amps, about 15 more than I actually need.
Daily cleaning? Way excessive. Monthly? Maybe, probably less. Not a whole lot going on in between rails.
I’d be way more worried about tweakers trying to steal the wiring
All electricity is overhead for security reasons, routing solar energy through the rails would destroy that. Doing that (beyond the 100m test-track) would mean a prolongued political discussion.
Electricity is overhead for safety reasons (maybe that’s what you meant by “security reasons”). As long as the voltage is kept low (< 48V) and the runs of solar panels aren’t too long, the power can be run safely in the tracks.
They’re not. Swiss rails are extra made so that you can walk over them. All electricity goes overhead for security reasons. If anything, they would probably tap into this overhead-grid.
possibly. But I can very easily imagine specialized trains cleaning them once every day
not really a problem here in switzerland
They’re most likely not used for this. All electricity is overhead for security reasons, routing solar energy through the rails would destroy that. Doing that (beyond the 100m test-track) would mean a prolongued political discussion.
So I have a solar setup-older panels, like 15 years old. They can be 3/4 obscured by a building or whatever, and still make 85% of what they’re rated to.
Which is fucking awesome. Right now, they’re covered in so much dust I can see the ‘clean’ spots where the morning dew condensed on them, and they’re still kicking 20 amps, about 15 more than I actually need.
Daily cleaning? Way excessive. Monthly? Maybe, probably less. Not a whole lot going on in between rails.
I’d be way more worried about tweakers trying to steal the wiring
Electricity is overhead for safety reasons (maybe that’s what you meant by “security reasons”). As long as the voltage is kept low (< 48V) and the runs of solar panels aren’t too long, the power can be run safely in the tracks.