<
https://www.positive.news/society/solar-project-reimagines-railway-network-as-clean-energy-lifelines/>
"A Swiss firm is on track to solve the conundrum of where to site industrial
solar farms, by turning railways into power plants.
Switzerland needs to boost solar energy output seven-fold by 2035 to meet
climate goals, but a scarcity of land available for large-scale PV plants poses
a serious hurdle to scaling up.
Concerns over land use, aesthetics and environmental impact have mired solar
projects in controversy, with as many as a third proposed for construction in
the Alps derailed by local opposition, red tape or funding woes.
Now bright sparks at solar developer Sun-Ways have come up with a solution that
exploits some of Switzerland’s 5,000km (3,100 miles) of railway line: solar
panels that slot between the tracks.
Its world-first railtrack solar farm was switched on in April, observed by
delegates from France, Belgium, Israel, Indonesia and South Korea who have
shown an interest in adopting the tech.
The test site – in western Switzerland’s mountainous Neuchâtel canton – is made
up of 48 panels capable of generating an annual 16k kWh, roughly equivalent to
the yearly output of four domestic rooftop arrays. Also showcased at the
switch-on was a machine developed by track maintenance firm Scheuchzer SA that
can lay as many as 150 of Sun-Ways’ panels an hour."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
