The Swiss Rail Experiment: Can Solar Panels on Railway Tracks Really Power Trains? | EXPLAINED
With the potential to generate enough power for hundreds of thousands of homes, this project could redefine how countries think about renewable energy in transport.
Can you use railway tracks not just to carry trains, but to generate the very electricity that powers them? Well, Switzerland is putting the unusual idea to the test. In a Rs 6.04 crore (585,000 Swiss francs) pilot project, 48 specially designed solar panels have been laid along a 100-metre stretch of tracks in Buttes, a small village in western Switzerland. The goal? To see if the vast, unused space between rails can be turned into a source of sustainable energy without disrupting train operations.
The technology comes from Sun-Ways, a startup founded by Joseph Scuderi, who first thought of the concept in 2020 while waiting for a train. Interestingly, his idea, like many novel ones, was initially rejected by the Federal Office of Transport (FOT) in 2023 over concerns that the solar panels could affect the safety of the trains and related maintenance efforts. But he ultimately won the FOT’s approval, and Sun-Ways installed the panels on a line operated by transN.
How the Swiss Solar Track System Works
Sun-Ways has patented a system that lets Swiss track maintenance company Scheuchzer install or remove up to 1,000 square metres of panels in just a few hours. Conventional solar panels are fixed permanently. But Scuderi has developed a system where these track-mounted panels can be removed whenever necessary, allowing quick access for repairs or inspections. To ensure safety, Sun-Ways consulted independent experts to confirm that these movable panels would not interfere with trains or railway operations.
The electricity generated through these systems can be used in three main ways:
- Powering the railway itself: Feeding energy into switches, signals, and stations.
- Feeding the grid: Supplying electricity to the local distribution network.
- Future possibility: Powering trains directly, if the system is scaled and integrated.
“Getting this far has been a miracle,” he told local outlet Swissinfo. “We installed solar panels as we would on the roof of a house.”
Why It Matters
While the panels could power rail infrastructure or feed energy into the local grid, Sun-Ways argues the biggest impact would come from feeding the electricity directly into the traction network that runs Switzerland’s trains. Central to the experiment’s appeal are its large-scale implications and ambitious possibilities, i.e., turning unused track space into a potential clean energy source without compromising rail safety.
“It is good that rail and public transport companies are innovating, including in renewable energy production,” Florence Pictet, spokesperson for the FOT, told the outlet.
If successful, the system could be scaled up across Switzerland’s 5,000 kilometres of track. And that would generate enough energy to power not only trains but also feed electricity into the national grid. It potentially produce about one billion kWh of solar power annually, roughly enough to meet the electricity needs of 300,000 households. That means a transport network could double as a nationwide clean energy plant!
It’s definitely an experiment the world will be watching. And one that could inspire nations to follow suit.