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Solar rail could become common in Europe after successful trial in Switzerland

euronews.com

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Re: Solar rail could become common in Europe after successful trial in Switzerland

#11

Post by LaurensBER »

Aboutplants wrote: post #9

What are the economics of this? Cost to install vs other available options? Durability will certainly be an issue I’m sure. Genuinely curious and not because I think it’s a bad idea. I want solar on all underutilized areas, I just prefer low hanging fruit from a cost perspective at the current time.

I imagine that the cost to install is fairly low since train tracks require regular monitoring and maintenance so it's fairly cheap to add the installation and maintenance on top of the existing schedule.

The manufacturer claims that durability should not be an issue. Time will tell.

Re: Solar rail could become common in Europe after successful trial in Switzerland

#16

Post by bee_rider »

It makes more sense than the road, because at least the train isn’t driving directly on the thing. I wonder if the power could be delivered directly to the train. Although the only savings really would be transmission costs, not sure how big of a deal that is…

Re: Solar rail could become common in Europe after successful trial in Switzerland

#17

Post by tryagainian »

Aboutplants wrote: post #9

What are the economics of this? Cost to install vs other available options? Durability will certainly be an issue I’m sure. Genuinely curious and not because I think it’s a bad idea. I want solar on all underutilized areas, I just prefer low hanging fruit from a cost perspective at the current time.

[flagged]

Re: Solar rail could become common in Europe after successful trial in Switzerland

#18

Post by shermantanktop »

therealpygon wrote: post #5
ben_w wrote: post #2

Always nice when something that I suggest in a random comment only to get a dismissive reply, turns out to be an idea worth persuing all along.

Being right about things you have no control over is a bit like being right about your favorite flavor of jelly.

Can you be wrong about your favorite flavor of jelly?

Re: Solar rail could become common in Europe after successful trial in Switzerland

#19

Post by tryagainian »

LaurensBER wrote: post #11
Aboutplants wrote: post #9

What are the economics of this? Cost to install vs other available options? Durability will certainly be an issue I’m sure. Genuinely curious and not because I think it’s a bad idea. I want solar on all underutilized areas, I just prefer low hanging fruit from a cost perspective at the current time.

I imagine that the cost to install is fairly low since train tracks require regular monitoring and maintenance so it's fairly cheap to add the installation and maintenance on top of the existing schedule. The manufacturer claims that durability should not be an issue. Time will tell.

Placing a cover over the area between the tracks makes it much more difficult to inspect the ties (sleepers) and ballast.

Re: Solar rail could become common in Europe after successful trial in Switzerland

#20

Post by 3eb7988a1663 »

kuerbel wrote: post #15

Better article with video: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/emissions-reduction/solar-energ...

That video is good - seeing the train-car dropping the panels into place makes it clear that you have some immediate labor savings on the initial deployment. Not sure if the post-installation labor was significant or could be automated away.

Still not sold on the idea. For something with a 20+ year life span, the initial deployment effort seems kind of irrelevant and should be better located somewhere that does not require ongoing activity. Train ballast requires replacement every N years which is going to require ripping up all of those panels.

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