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Solar rail could become common in Europe after successful trial in Switzerland (www.euronews.com)

submitted 4 days ago by rssbot@lemmy.bestiver.se to c/hackernews@lemmy.bestiver.se

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[–] IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Tracks only end up changing shape because they are extremely long, continuous pieces. The solar cells are not going to be single pieces and would have room to expand and contract normally. I'm more interested in finding out how they hold up to winter and snow plowing.

[–] freeman@feddit.org 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

but doesnt the efficiency drop with an increased temperature? I assume the tracks are hotter than a roof and I wonder if there is a relevant efficiency decrease

[–] IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 days ago

Probably. But in this case you are comparing any amount of production with zero production. So while it may be lower production than the absolute best that solar can do, it's still an improved usage of space that would otherwise be doing nothing but heating up in the sun.