Tokyo (SCCIJ)—The Swiss startup Sun-Ways has launched a pilot solar power plant between railway tracks open to active train traffic. The removable panels can be laid without interrupting train operations.
Significant milestone
Installed mechanically on a 100-meter section of active railway, the panels represent a breakthrough in combining solar production with existing infrastructure. Located in the village of Buttes in the canton of Neuchâtel, the pilot project marks a significant milestone in developing innovative solar infrastructure integrated directly into the rail network.
Developed by Sun-Ways, the system aims to utilize the space between the rails to generate renewable solar electricity without interfering with rail operations, thus having no impact on the landscape and the environment. This project follows the approval granted in 2024 by the Swiss Federal Office of Transport, which authorized Sun-Ways to begin testing after a ten-month technical review. The Buttes installation is the first implementation of this technology under real traffic conditions.
Easy to maintain system
The initial deployment covers approximately 100 meters of railway track on a transN-operated line in Val-de-Travers and includes 48 solar panels. These panels are mounted using a specially developed machine from partner company Scheuchzer, which enables rapid and efficient installation. The machine installs up to 1,000 m² of solar panels in just a few hours. The system is both removable and easy to maintain, allowing for fast access to the tracks when needed.
The panels contain electrical connections, and cylindrical brushes attached to the back of trains clean them. The energy produced is 100% renewable, and the long-term objective is to reinject the electricity directly into the traction current used by the trains, maximizing self-consumption during daylight hours when rail traffic is most active. Swiss railway networks could produce 1 Tera Watt hours of electricity from solar per year, or 30% of the consumption of all public transport companies in Switzerland.
Removability as key
Removability is an essential characteristic. Indeed, it is not enough to securely fix the panels between the rails to allow trains to pass safely. The major constraint lies in being able to remove these solar panels so that the railway infrastructure maintenance teams can carry out heavy work such as grinding the rails or tamping the ballast. Even including this necessity, one-kilowatt hour produced by this system costs around 0.10 Swiss francs.
The three-year pilot phase will allow Sun-Ways and its partners to collect crucial performance and safety data, particularly concerning stability under train loads, glare avoidance for conductors, and maintenance compatibility. Sun-Ways would like to expand the plants across the 5,000-kilometer Swiss railway network if successful. This new milestone adds to Western Switzerland’s growing cleantech sector, reinforcing its position as a testbed for sustainable energy solutions at the intersection of infrastructure and innovation.
Text: GGBA (Editing by SCCIJ)
