Sun-Ways can test solar system on railroad tracks

Sun-Ways plans to transform railroad tracks into solar power plants. The idea is to install solar modules between the tracks in a way that allows them to be easily removed again in case of track repairs, for example. The Federal Office of Transport has now given the green light for the first pilot project, according to the startup from Ecublens in the canton of Vaud, which was founded in 2023.

Sun-Ways now has authorization to test its systems on a 100-meter stretch of track near Buttes train station starting in spring 2025. The 48 solar modules will be installed by Scheuchzer, a rail construction specialist and track construction systems manufacturer from Bussigny in the canton of Vaud.

The system will be installed and connected to the grid by Viteos, a renewable energy provider based in Neuchâtel, and DG Rail, a railroad power supply specialist. The system will be able to generate up to 16,000 kilowatt hours per year over an area of 100 square meters. The pilot project partners are covering the costs of 585,000 Swiss francs.

Thanks to a special development from Scheuchzer, Sun-Ways’ solar systems can be laid on the track bed between the tracks both manually and automatically, as well as easily removed again. The Scheuchzer machine can lay up to 1,000 square meters of solar modules per day. In Switzerland alone, Sun-Ways calculates that its 5,000 kilometers of track systems have the potential to generate 1 terawatt hour of electricity per year, or enough to supply 300,000 households.

The town of Aigle in the canton of Vaud has already approved a further system, which will be built on private tracks over a length of 1,500 kilometers. Sun-Ways is also in talks with the French state railroad SNCF and with partners in Spain, Romania and South Korea about further pilot projects. ce/stk