That's easy. Bury it or otherwise make it disappear so we can keep making bank on petrochemicals. duh!
Sorry for the cynicism. I can't help it. I've seen too much.
this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2026
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We just had that topic: https://lazysoci.al/post/48713985
Yes, this is after that test.
Not really. We are still a bit more than one year into the three year trial.
For his part, Joseph Scuderi hopes to shorten the duration of the pilot project in Buttes – set at three years by the Federal Office of Transport – and to obtain final approval quickly. “We have demonstrated that the solar plant between the rails is safe. The sooner we obtain final approval, the sooner our partners abroad will also be able to move forwards.”
We have demonstrated that the solar plant between the rails is safe.
But nothing about reliable. It snows in Switzerland.
Might be that the trains blow it away. But I also hope it does not get shortened, three years seems about right to me.
It's like solar roadways, except once again trains are the natural evolutionary end point
Musk will do it better with tunnels full of self driving cars that are recharged in real time from the solar panel roads they are driving on!
"We can put solar panels in the tunnels! Give me another trillion!"
Nah, the tunnel needs to be surrounded by magnets that induce a current in the Tesla as it drives through. That current can then be used to charge the Tesla.
Ok but now my brain is thinking we may as well strip it down as much as possible, just use the magnets to move metal boxes with wheels like a railgun
No. This would require the driver to keep the car perfectly aligned... Unless...
What if we used some sort of auto-steering system. Like, if the wheels had no ability to go anywhere other than the track.
And metal wheels on a metal road is going to have the least friction and least wear and... oh fuck we just re-invented trains
The carcinization of transportation
after rolling out 100 metres of photovoltaic (PV) panels in between active tracks
One of the biggest concerns, previously expressed by the International Union of Railways, is that the panels could suffer micro-cracks, lead to a higher risk of fires and distract train drivers due to reflections
Built-in sensors also ensure they work properly while brushes attached to the end of trains can remove dirt from the panels’ surface.
Yeah that doesn't really sound like a resounding success IMO.
Just put it on a house?
Concerns don't mean it's a problem, just that it was identified as a possible problem. Did this study bear these concerns out? From the article, right between two of the paragraphs you copied:
Sun-Ways has tackled these issues by building more resistant panels than what would be installed on rooftops, fitted with an anti-reflection filter.
Also, yes, install them on houses. We can do both. We should keep putting them just about everywhere they work until there is no added benefit or there is no more fossil fuel being used for electricity.
I still dont understand why it's so important to have them along rail lines. Why not just build a regular solar farm?
The space and right of way is already procured, and the space between the tracks can't be put to other beneficial use.
Sure if we can do both! But it seems like lots of easier options are still untapped in many places, like the sides of the rail right of way.
solar fricken railroads?
This idea makes a thousand times more sense because they're not trying to replace the load-bearing surface with an expanse of expensive and delicate glass, they're just filling in otherwise unused space
rocks, sand, parts, snow, ice all land between those tracks.
The article mentions reinforcing the panels and also adding "brooms" to the underside of the trains. I don't know how it will shake out but it's possible with the brooms they get cleaned more regularly than rooftop ones. Perhaps it will be important to leave gaps so that rocks and train parts can fall down between them as they are swept off (thus hopefully limiting damage to a single panel)
You know what makes more sense? Putting them on homes. Solar railways are a pointless attempt at some money from the company involved. They are not practical.
This one makes a lot of sense though. You have a built in way to clean the panels through the trains, the panels are protected by the rails, and theoretically nothing should be putting weight on them (in practice the weight of a human or maybe a cow - at most)
Plus railroads last a very long time. Basically until we rip them up
We don't need a solution to transition away from fossil fuels, we need lots of solutions. We really should be putting up solar panels anywhere and everywhere they will survive for at least a few years. Even if it's 70% as productive as a properly angled panel, so what? We don't need to min max here
We need production ramped up and capacity online as fast as possible. If solar railways become a new source of demand, that means more investment in both
the panels are protected by the rails,
Think a little harder.
I agree we should be putting solar panels on roofs. I disagree that this railway solar idea is impractical. If this article is to be believed they have already demonstrated effective operation at pilot scale. They mentioned some challenges specific to this application, but they also seem to have compensated for them
The challenges are what makes them impractical. The company has investment it needs to repay, so it obviously wants to tell you it's not a big deal. It's much more cost efficient and solar efficient to install them on roofs of homes and building, create shelters from them, or simply just make a field of them. Things like "solar railways" should be a last resort, after we have already covered the obvious solutions.
I don't think it's a slam dunk case. There's lots of costs associated with installing solar on a roof that may not apply here. I think someone would have to do a comparative lifecycle analysis
Pretty ridiculous idea on the face of it but who knows!
This coupled with solar canals would be amazing.
Ok, but we don't have much open canals here. We even revert straightened streams from the 1900s, because they have severe disadvantages, especialy in ecology and flood control.
Solar highways as well.
And the giant money incinerator!
Solar coal mines!
Was bedeutet das für Hessen?
Soon to be proactively banned in the US.
How easy are they to steal?... asking for a friend... who needs panels for his house... yes lets go with that
Probably similar to stealing them from a field, just with more risk of getting hit by a train
Screwing up our transition to renewables... You (general) probably deserve to get hit.