Renewable energy has been quietly seeping into the US railroad industry, but the pace has been achingly slow. Things could pick up if a new solar power research project in Germany pans out. It aims for a sustainability twofer, by leveraging the built environment of railroads for direct electrification.
More Solar Power For Cleaner Rail Transportation
Rapid decarbonization is already within reach in the area of commuter rail transportation, where many systems are electrified through the local grid. All you have to do is replace fossil power plants with solar power or other renewables, and maybe add some bulk energy storage to boot.
That’s all well and good, but the German research project is looking to tap existing railway infrastructure for generating direct-to-railroad electricity from solar panels. By feeding electricity directly into the railway system, they anticipate the benefit of avoiding energy loss during transmission, as well as creating new opportunities for siting solar arrays.
The new research could also help resolve railway electrification issues here in the US, where diesel-electric locomotives still do the heavy lifting for long distance freight and passenger transportation (more on that diesel-electric thing in a second).
More Solar Power For Railroads, Somehow
The new research project comes under the umbrella of the German Center for Rail Traffic Research at the Federal Railway Authority, which has tasked the firm TÜV Rheinland with investigating new opportunities to deploy solar power in and around railway infrastructure.
That is a tricky task, partly because Germany already has a lot of solar power on its hands.
“Because rail transport is heavily electrified and already uses a lot of renewable energy, it already has a favorable greenhouse gas emissions balance when it comes to consumption,” TÜV Rheinland observes, while emphasizing that the research project aims to improve on that picture.
TÜV Rheinland project manager Jürgen van der Weem expands on that theme.
“If it turns out to be possible to generate energy along the widely ramified railway electrification system and feed it in directly, thereby making better use of existing infrastructure and reducing energy losses through multiple conversion and transport, the rail mode of transport could further improve its greenhouse gas balance,” he explains.
The project aims at various types of infrastructure along railroad rights-of-way, such as integrating solar panels into track beds, or generating solar power from noise barriers equipped with PV systems.
Electric Locomotives For The US
Regardless of where the solar power is coming from, the stipulation is that railroad PV systems will need to tie directly into Germany’s 15-kilovolt overhead network.
The results of the research project should be available soon. The team is looking at a 14-month timeline, though apparently they anticipate that some regulatory barriers will have to be removed or adjusted before their vision of direct-to-railroad solar power …….
Source: https://cleantechnica.com/2021/12/27/railroads-solar-power-you-aint-seen-nothing-yet/