Solar panels between the rails in Switzerland

[whole diary]

[Surrey 455]

From Euronews

Solar panels are being rolled out “like carpet” on railway tracks in Switzerland.

Swiss start-up Sun-Ways is installing panels near Buttes train station in the west of the country in May, pending sign-off from the Federal Office of Transport.

As the climate crisis demands that we speed up Europe’s energy transition, developers have been seeing new potential in unusual surfaces.

Roadsides, reservoirs and farms are all finding space for solar systems. And Germany’s Deutsche Bahn is also experimenting with adding solar cells to railway sleepers.

Continues....

[Electric train]

From Euronews

Solar panels are being rolled out “like carpet” on railway tracks in Switzerland.

Swiss start-up Sun-Ways is installing panels near Buttes train station in the west of the country in May, pending sign-off from the Federal Office of Transport.

As the climate crisis demands that we speed up Europe’s energy transition, developers have been seeing new potential in unusual surfaces.

Roadsides, reservoirs and farms are all finding space for solar systems. And Germany’s Deutsche Bahn is also experimenting with adding solar cells to railway sleepers.

Continues....

I doubt Track Maintainenance Engineers will be overly keen on the idea, would make tamping the track a pain

[broadgage]

I am in general in favour of renewable energy, including solar.
Installation between the rails seem a very odd choice, impedes track maintenance, and liable to shading by vegetation, snow or dead leaves.
I would have thought that roofs of station buildings might be a better choice.

[stuving]

I doubt Track Maintainenance Engineers will be overly keen on the idea, would make tamping the track a pain

There's a video here about it, which says these are "removable solar panels". So the same special train that rolls them out and clips them in place can also roll them up again to allow maintenance work.

Maybe in Switzerland the obvious corollary, that it's also easy for them to be stolen, is not sen as an issue!

[johnneyw]

Rail Avent carries an article about an experiment in Switzerland placing solar panels down the middle of railway lines.  It's hoped that success would generate enough power for 300,000 households or 30% of the power needed for public transport.

Article link below.

https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2025/04/switch-on-for-worlds-first-on-track-solar-power.html

[GBM]

Ah!
Covered here in 2023
Solar panels between the rails in Switzerland
https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=30199.0

[Chris from Nailsea]

Topics now merged here.

CfN.