Swiss Railway Solar Pilot Surpasses First Year with 19 MWh Generated, 11,000 Trains Passed

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Sun-Ways CEO identifies regulatory hurdles, not technology, as primary barrier to expansion

Just over a year has passed since a pilot project installing photovoltaics on an active railway line commenced operations. According to Sun-Ways CEO Joseph Scuderi, the principal challenge proved to be regulatory rather than technical.

Inaugurated on April 24, 2024, in Buttes, Switzerland, the 100-meter installation comprises 48 solar panels positioned between the rails on a line open to regular traffic. The array has generated more than 19 MWh to date, with over 11,000 trains passing overhead without incident. Neither railway operations nor solar generation have been affected.

The concept leverages the unused space between tracks for power generation. While the panel angle is not optimal, energy losses are relatively minor compared to the potential yield. Sun-Ways estimates that Switzerland alone offers 1 TWh of potential capacity—enough to cover 30 percent of the nation’s public transport electricity demand.

The panels incorporate anti-reflective coating to prevent glare for train drivers and are engineered to resist micro-cracks that could elevate fire risk. Deployment required a custom rail-mounted machine; the company now operates equipment capable of installing up to 300 panels per hour across hundreds of kilometers, a significant scale-up from the initial 100-meter pilot.

“Technology wasn’t the problem,” Scuderi told The Register. “After all, we’re capable of sending people to the Moon. The real challenge is regulation. The strictest safety requirements apply in the rail sector. It took us years to obtain authorization to test our Sun-Ways solar power plant on a line open to passenger trains.”

Context underscores the opportunity: the European Environment Agency reported in April that renewables accounted for 25.2 percent of final energy consumption in the EU. In the UK, renewables reached 43.3 percent of generation over the past year per National Grid data, with solar contributing 6.9 percent. The EU targets a minimum of 42.5 percent renewable energy by 2030, making track-integrated photovoltaics an attractive proposition. Sun-Ways has secured agreements with Italy and France’s SNCF, while discussions are underway with South Korea, Spain, and Portugal.

Scuderi projects a market launch as early as 2028, beginning with small 10 km (10,000 m²) Sun-Ways power plants, scaling to 1,000 km installed by 2035 and 10,000 km by 2040.

When Sun-Ways was founded in the early 2020s, concerns about panel maintenance, track and ballast integrity, and keeping units clean enough for viable output were prominent. The pilot has demonstrated these technical challenges are surmountable. The installation rate of 300 panels per hour now exceeds the pace achievable for canopies or station rooftops, though off-track installations avoid complications from rail traffic and track maintenance.

Financial modeling indicates a levelized cost of energy (LCOE) between €0.05/kWh and €0.09/kWh, depending on solar irradiance across southern or northern Europe. “For a customer such as a railroad company,” Scuderi noted, “the LCOE corresponds to the final cost of electricity, since it is not subject to taxes or fees on the public grid, as solar energy is fed directly into the traction grid.”

The trajectory recalls the early enthusiasm for solar roadways a decade ago, which faltered under the weight of traffic loads and maintenance demands. Solar railways, by contrast, have so far proven successful: the panels require minimal maintenance and are delivering expected output. The next phase is scaling the solution. ®

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