alt Hacker NewsWhat are the economics of this? Cost to install vs other available options? Durability will certainly be an issue I’m sure. Genuinely curious and not because I think it’s a bad idea. I want solar on all underutilized areas, I just prefer low hanging fruit from a cost perspective at the current time.
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I imagine that the cost to install is fairly low since train tracks require regular monitoring and maintenance so it's fairly cheap to add the installation and maintenance on top of the existing schedule.
The manufacturer claims that durability should not be an issue. Time will tell.
Seems likely that safe access for maintenance makes this unappealing economically. Likely easier to have wider rail right of way and then put a panel farm on the side.
This might be exactly what you are asking for: low cost and low hanging fruit.
On paper, this should be pretty cheap. Normally, you need some mounting infrastructure to put the panels on, land preparation, etc. In this case, the train track provides the supporting infrastructure. You can bring in the panels via train wagons. Installation should be pretty quick and straightforward. And for cleaning, you could just do that from a rail wagon as well. Not having to truck in anything seems like it should be a big bonus here.
Durability might actually be fine. Solar panels are pretty reliable. And it's not like the train is in direct contact with the panels. The vibrations might be a challenge but presumably that would have shown up in the trials. It's something you could engineer solutions for. And so what if a small amount of panels fail?