Swiss startup Sun-Ways is testing removable solar panels installed on an operational railway line through a pilot project with French railway operator SNCF in Switzerland.
Too bad the article is not explaining why SNCF is interested in this project. I can guess that electricity is one of the job of SNCF, they are using a lot of it, they have the skills and network to manage and distribute electricity. They could buy less electricity. Since rails are a well equiped infrastructure, it’s cheaper to put PV in place and everything is available for cables and it’s an electricity network by itself
Too bad the article is not explaining why SNCF is interested in this project. I can guess that electricity is one of the job of SNCF, they are using a lot of it, they have the skills and network to manage and distribute electricity. They could buy less electricity. Since rails are a well equiped infrastructure, it’s cheaper to put PV in place and everything is available for cables and it’s an electricity network by itself
I found some articles (in french). They already tested a solution to rapidly deploy PV on unused tracks : https://www.groupe-sncf.com/fr/innovation/solveig-prototype-ferrovoltaique
An another article is about this project and gives a bit more details : https://lenergeek.com/2026/02/06/une-startup-suisse-ose-limpensable-produire-de-lelectricite-directement-sur-les-rails-de-train/ It is an experimental project to find if PV panels could survive in such condition and if it is possible to manage both rail and energy operations on the same network.