World news: unique photovoltaic power plant project in Switzerland

Swiss startup Sun-Ways announced last week that it has commissioned the world's first removable solar power plant installed on a railway line. Passenger trains will be running on this line on a regular basis from Monday 28 April.

The first power plant of its kind
The first 18 kWp solar power plant to be installed on railway sleepers is located in western Switzerland in the Neuchâtel mountains. It includes 48 solar panels with a capacity of 385 W. The new installation will produce between 16 and MWh of solar energy per year, which will be fed into the public grid.

According to a statement from startup Sun-Ways, the Swiss Federal Transport Authority approved the removable PV plant in October 2024. It has since undergone the tests and analyses required by the authority. This year, the project received all the necessary permits.

Passenger trains are expected to begin running on the line on April 28. Sun-Ways said it will conduct tests over the next three years on panel coating, pollution and the impact of the system on rail infrastructure. The data will help determine whether it is safe to operate a railway with removable solar panels mounted between the rails on railway sleepers.

Unique project
"This will be the first time that solar panels will be installed on a rail line that trains will be running on," said Joseph Scuderi, CEO of Sun-Ways.

Installing solar panels along railroad tracks is not a new concept. Two other companies, Italy's Greenrail and England's Bankset Energy, are testing photovoltaic components mounted on railway sleepers.

Sun-Ways uses factory-prefabricated solar panels from Switzerland. The one-metre-wide panels are simply placed between the train tracks and attached to them using a piston mechanism. The panels are robotically laid from a special train using the principle of rolling out a carpet.

According to Sun-Ways, the solar panels can be installed manually or mechanically using a railway machine specially designed by Scheuchzer SA, which specialises in railway maintenance.

Sun-Ways claims that the new technology is capable of installing up to 1,000 m2 of solar panels per day. Each element of the solar installation can also be quickly dismantled for track maintenance or replacement.