""On a sunny afternoon, if you are catching a train through Aldershot, a little bit of the energy for that train will come from those solar panels," says Leo Murray, co-founder and chief executive of Riding Sunbeams, a start-up aiming to use renewable energy resources for rail electrification projects. Riding Sunbeams built the Aldershot array in 2019. It's small in scale at just 40 kilowatts equivalent to roughly 10 of the rooftop solar arrays you would find on a typical British home."
""If you are a railway, this is the cheapest electricity you can buy," he adds. Around the country, and the world, many trains still run on diesel a fossil fuel. To go electric, rail operators have traditionally had two options: electrified rail, or overhead lines that that trains connect to with arm-like pantographs on their roofs. Installing either of these systems can be expensive and technically challenging."
A small 40-kilowatt solar array installed beside Aldershot station supplies a portion of electricity used by passing trains. Riding Sunbeams built the Aldershot installation in 2019; the array equals roughly ten domestic rooftop systems and is reported to be the only solar installation in the country delivering power directly to move trains. Many services still run on diesel, and traditional electrification via overhead lines or conventional electrified infrastructure is expensive and technically difficult. Local electricity-grid connection limits commonly obstruct electrification. On-site solar arrays can provide low-cost, grid-independent power and help accelerate rail decarbonisation.
Read at www.bbc.com
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