The French railway operator SNCF has commenced six months of performance testing of a new prototype that generates energy from PV panels placed on non-operational railway tracks.
SNCF possesses vast land reserves in France – more than 113,800 hectares. By 2030 it plans to install 1,000MWp (megawatt peak) of ground-based PV capacity on this land.
AREP, a subsidiary of SNCF, has been developing a container-based, portable solar power plant that can be placed on non-operational railway tracks and then relocated as needed.
The aim of the project – known as Solveig – is to minimise the footprint of solar installations on the ground while enhancing the solar potential of unused rail lines.
The project’s prototype, which includes eight PV panels together with inverters, storage batteries and mounting equipment, can be shipped either by road or rail to site in standardised ISO containers.
The mounting equipment, which includes a telescopic arm, is used to unload the panels from the container. These...