Swiss startup Sunways plans to construct an 18 kW pilot PV system between the racks of a 100-m linear part of railway line within the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel.
From pv journal in France
The Federal Office of Transport (FOT) in Switzerland has given a allow to the primary detachable solar energy plant within the nation to be deployed on the practice line.
The undertaking is developed by the Swiss startup Sunways, which plans to begin deploying the system subsequent yr, on a 100-m linear part of the 221 railway operated by transN, the general public transport firm of the canton of Neuchâtel .
The pilot system will depend on 48 panels that every have an output of 380 W and their mixed capability will likely be 18 kW. The undertaking will likely be constructed at a value of €621,800 ($685,920) and can inject electrical energy into the native grid.
Local electrical energy supplier Viteos and DG-Rail, an organization specializing in rail electrical installations, will companion with Sunways to construct the undertaking.
In the summer season of 2023, the Federal Office of Transport initially rejected the request as a precautionary measure, as a result of it didn’t have any technical references in regards to the proposed expertise.
Supported by industrial companions, Sunways known as on two professors of mechanics from the Haute Ecole d’Ingénierie et de Gestion du Canton de Vaud (HEIG-VD) to hold out an impartial evaluation of specifically designed prototypes . Then, Geste Engineering, a Swiss specialist in main railway engineering initiatives, carried out a technical and security evaluation. Its objective is to reveal that the system is totally compliant with the FOT security standards, for the reason that pilot set up will function on a railway line open to rail site visitors.
“As controversies develop across the set up of solar energy crops within the Alps, Sunways expertise can present a related reply and the required enhance in solar-powered electrical energy manufacturing,” the corporate stated. . “In reality, it takes benefit of an unused house with out interfering with practice site visitors or upkeep and inspection of the tracks.”
The firm explains that the photo voltaic modules could be put in manually or mechanically utilizing a practice engine specifically designed by Scheuchzer SA, an skilled in railway upkeep, which it says can set up as much as 1,000 m2 of photo voltaic panels per day. Additionally, the solar energy plant is detachable and could be eliminated to permit for upkeep.
The authorization issued by the OFT is topic to plenty of technical circumstances together with a part of a sequence of further checks and measurements to be carried out all through the operation of the pilot undertaking. It is anticipated to make sure that there isn’t a detrimental affect on the railway infrastructure.
Similarly, elimination and set up checks will likely be carried out to reveal that the Sunways pilot set up is totally tailored to the constraints associated to the upkeep work and the operation of the road. These checks will likely be carried out below the supervision of RM voie ferrée, an organization specialised in railway inspections and security.
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