Could be interesting to see what the future of this turns out to be.

Solar-powered trains: the future of rail?By Adele Berti

The world’s first solar-powered railway track was recently introduced in the UK, unlocking new opportunities for the adoption of this technology on lines around the world. With prime examples of similar ongoing projects in India and Australia, how effective is this model and could our railways ever run on solar power alone?

https://www.railway-technology.com/features/solar-powered-trains/

The train is not solar powered, the signals and switches are…

https://www.engadget.com/2019/08/23/solar-power-rail-line-uk-renewable/

“Some trains in the UK are now running on a rail line powered entirely by a solar farm in what’s said to be a world first. Around 100 panels are keeping the signaling and lights up and running on the track near Aldershot in Hampshire, and the project could be a precursor to solar-powered trains on the nation’s network.”

Kind of a misleading title to the articles/headlines.

Do you remember cordless rennovations “solar powered” cars, with a “hoop” of a solar panel on a flat car… turns out he hid a battery pack underneath.

Will take a lot of energy to run a train, real or model.

Greg

The article also mentions putting solar cells on the sleepers. Sleepers, or in the US they are called ties, take a lot of abuse. Can solar cells endure that kind of abuse?

Also it takes a lot of surface area to generate a decent amount of power with solar cells, and solar cells only work during daylight hours. The cost of solar cells is coming down, but to have enough to get a decent amount of power is still a bit expensive, and they do have a lifespan.

I dunno…

Did you see the guy in the article cleaning the surface of the panels with a rag? That’s not going to fly with cells out in the middle of nowhere.

Greg

There is another job I don’t want. Going along the whole line, cleaning all of the solar panels…

Actually shows a flaw in the system, you have to make these pretty self-cleaning, which means normally a steeper angle than is ideal for power collection, so dew and rain will wash the surface, too flat and dew just stays and the dirt collects.

San Diego is said to be the #1 solar city in the us at least so we’ve learned a lot about installations.

Greg

I would like to see a good system to power the buildings, on our layouts, I am sure I could figure out what would be needed to do this and to wire the collector and the battery, but sure would be nice to have a landscape system we could just get and tap into for the buildings and right of way lights , etc

https://www.harborfreight.com/100-watt-solar-panel-kit-63585.html?_br_psugg_q=solar+panel

and of course you supply the storage battery. As Dave has shown, easy to find.

Greg

Easy to find, but still a bit spendy for me. Although the cost has come down some.