332
Trains in Switzerland Are Now Running Over Solar Panels in a First-of-Its-Kind Test (www.zmescience.com)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/energy@slrpnk.net
93 comments fedilink hide all child comments
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 21 points 3 months ago (11 children)

Three years ago EEVBlog already published a Video why this is a terrible idea: https://youtu.be/7vItnxhWRqw

Im not convinced much has changed since then. As a Swiss citizen it's a bit disappointing that a apparent cash grab like this is possible.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 11 child comments
    •
  • [–] 13 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    And this is why they only put 100m of panels, to test and validate the idea before commiting to any large scale project. As a swiss citizen too, I'm on the contrary quite happy to see those test projects to give a chance to new technologies (or ways to utilize said technologies) before any real investment.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    I think the biggest limitations will be security, someone will definitely be trying to steal them

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago

    steal them

    train damages them

    they get dirty

    Wildlife infestation

    It makes more sense to put them up out of the way angled toward the sun

    just set up bleacher style farms along train routes

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago* (5 children)

    Tbh this video has poor arguments:

    • solar roads startups closed (no shit sherlock. Many startups close everyday)
    • dust and wires (sure. However this is an engineering problem and can be solced)
    • south corea does it as roof top (what’s the point here?) And that’s it. No real argumenr visible. Just a video for getting ad fees imho.
  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
    •
  • [–] -1 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    This guy was never to Switzerland.

    Dust --> attach a brush infront of the train

    Im not sure we use the machine that he showed in the video to replace the gravel. At the same time it looks like the tracks stay untouched. Its not something that is done often.

    He talks about huge shipments of coal in Switzerland xd WHAT THE HELLY ??!!(the 1800s called, they want their environmental policy back)

    He wants private citizens to plaster their roofs and their soil with solar. Well they can i guess but its their decision. Just know that the cows in Switzerland usually graze on grass. The railway is 100% Eidgenossen owned.

    2% is 2%. People cry about every Rappen on the powerbill. I wouldnt mind paying 2% less and im not even a company.

    In the comments they talk about the toilet releasing the waste on the tracks. In Switzerlands trains theres WC's (water closets). So the sun will evaporate the waste. Also we dont want to eat from the panels its just to generate electricity.

    So i found an argument against every argument of his and it took me 10 minutes.

    I respect the effort tho it was fun to watch.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Are Balkonkraftwerke legal in Switzerland?

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Yes, and i see them often even in places where theres not much sun.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago*

    I don't know whether their owners track their production for estimating ROI, but I'm getting 1.7 MWh/year from a 2 kWp DIY in a nonoptimal orientation with some shading, which is worth it at 0.3 EUR/kWh (ok, if your meter can't run backwards you will need some storage, which has also a cost).

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago

    I agree with you in that a lot of his arguments are inconveniences rather than blockers. but there are still a lot of problems with the design when we could easily not put them right exactly there and end up with a better outcome.

    Dust --> attach a brush in front of the train

    Dust + water isn't going to just brush off, they'll need to send purpose build devices to wash them and it's not going to work well at speed.

    Im not sure we use the machine that he showed in the video to replace the gravel. At the same time it looks like the tracks stay untouched. Its not something that is done often.

    Rebalasting track has to happen based on environment. Some areas will need it often, the rocks beneath the ties end up getting pushed deeper and need to be back-filled

    In the comments they talk about the toilet releasing the waste on the tracks. In Switzerlands trains theres WC’s (water closets). So the sun will evaporate the waste. Also we dont want to eat from the panels its just to generate electricity.

    Waste has a lot of mineral content and the bioplaques are incredubly durable and not see through.

    He talks about huge shipments of coal in Switzerland xd WHAT THE HELLY ??!!(the 1800s called, they want their environmental policy back)

    Coal is less prevalant, but even at that, yhere is noting clean about rail lines. Brakes, metal on metal wheels. def need to wash the panels and probably agitate to get dirt off that close to the suspension. It's solvable. but putting them on racks a few feet away from the track would be less of a mess, not cost all that much and make maintenance and diagnostics easier.

    All in all, putting them along rail lines is a reasonable idea, but there's no real need to cause all these difficulties if they just put them up on slightly elevated structures to one side of the track. The cost for galvanized pipes is barely a rounding error on the whole project.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent