PVTIME – The inter-track photovoltaic pilot of Swiss renewable start-up Sun-Ways has passed one year of live railway operation, proving that solar generation can run alongside regular train services without disruption.
Launched on 24 April 2025 near Buttes in Neuchâtel, the trial uses 48 380W panels across 100 metres of track to deliver a total capacity of 18 kW. The installation was built with low clearance to allow unimpeded rail traffic. By June 2026, over 11,000 trains had passed over the installation with no safety issues. GGBa data records output exceeding 16,000 kWh, despite a one-month shutdown for snow clearance and maintenance. Founder Joseph Scuderi confirmed that all rail safety and power generation targets had been met.
Custom laying machinery, co-developed with Scheuchzer AG, can install 300 metres of patented interlocking panels per hour, or over 500 modules per day. Each two-metre panel delivers 380W, enabling 190 kW of new capacity daily. The system reuses existing rail land and requires no new land acquisition or structural retrofits.
Scaling up has significant power potential. Installing the system on 20% of the US’s 140,000-mile freight rail network could generate over 8 GW of capacity without the need for agricultural or woodland clearance. Sun-Ways estimates that Switzerland’s 5,000km of rail could generate 1 TWh per year, accounting for 2% of the country’s electricity demand. Up to half of the world’s one million kilometres of rail may be compatible, subject to site constraints.
Design upgrades, including reinforced panels, anti-glare coatings, embedded monitoring sensors and train-mounted cleaning brushes, were prompted by harsh rail operating conditions and a regulatory rejection from Swiss transport authorities in 2023. These upgrades were validated via independent Geste Engineering safety audits.
The trial is scheduled to operate until April 2028 and will gather three years of operational data. French rail bodies SNCF Innovation and SNCF Réseau are monitoring the results of the trial under a formal partnership, with a view to a potential national rollout. Sun-Ways aims to integrate solar output into rail traction power supplies in the long term, though this remains a future development goal.
Inter-track PV forms part of dual-use solar infrastructure that avoids the land-use conflicts faced by traditional ground-mounted arrays. Sector-wide adoption hinges on the full three-year performance data from the pilot and the economic assessments of the route-level costs and benefits by rail operators.
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