Solar Freakin' Railways too it seems...

[dmcdonald]

https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/solar-panel-carpet-on-railway-tracks

So, this gets away from having loads placed directly upon the panels

But, every railway I've ever seen has a way of even making its ballast dirty - and stuff falls off rail cars - so I can't see how will be compatible with the solar panels below

It seems like this stupid idea is just going to keep morphing to find new idiots to infect

[SiliconWizard]

Not to talk about vibrations. Heck, all pilot projects I've heard of so far have ended up with cracked panels. Even on cycling ways.

Well, it will keep going for as long as people invest in that.

Maybe we could invest all this wasted money in making our own solar panels to begin with, instead of relying on China for them, almost exclusively, at least in Europe.

[MarkS]

*Maybe* above the train, but below it?! Did they do any research past standard track layouts? This will be far more prone to failure than the stupid solar roadways.

[pcprogrammer]

This has already been classed as dodgy here and here.

The latter is from the same member as the original post here. 

Dave just did a video on it and pre released it in the supporter lounge.

[mendip_discovery]

If you put it down near the tracks you will need to take in account for the fact the rails expand and contract.

Plus I cant see them letting a reflective/shiny sheet to be placed in the view of the driver.

Solar panels on the roof might work.

[Psi]

Never going to work without some major breakthrough for cheap self-cleaning nano-coated panels that are also bullet proof.

That would be the two main issues, dust covering the cells and rocks smashing into them.
If those problems could be solved it could work.
But if those problems could be solved it would likely open up other places to put them which would make more sense than along railway tracks.

[tom66]

I don't know where this obsession with double-using the land for a track or road comes from.  Most highway and railway authorities own the margins around the carriageway as well. If you really wanted solar panels near railways, just put them next to the track.  You'd still have the headache of maintenance (can't do it with trains running), plus the dirt, stones, etc. that trains kick up, but you could reduce the amount of land take if you were worried about that.

[Ranayna]

Never going to work without some major breakthrough for cheap self-cleaning nano-coated panels that are also bullet proof.

That would be the two main issues, dust covering the cells and rocks smashing into them.
If those problems could be solved it could work.
But if those problems could be solved it would likely open up other places to put them which would make more sense than along railway tracks.

There is another issue: Thieves.
These panels on ground level will be stolen. Just today i read a short report in the newspaper that metal thieves are becoming a big problem for the german railway. It is just not possible to surveil the whole of the railway network all the time.
These panels will be stolen.

And then there is always plain, stupid vadalism. A couple of idiots with spray paint will also be able to take these out of commission easily. Having the panels on the floor makes them a juicy target for bored youths.

[jonovid]

  scientific misinformation is big business for somebody, just look at the level of promotional advertising used.
examples hyperloop or wireless charging at a distance

If you must put solar panels on railways then put them on a roof or pergola up high over the tracks .
most of us know but not obvious to sum, how dirty and oily railway lines get.

[rdl]

I saw this last week. It looks pretty reasonable to me.

Solar Panels Floating in Reservoirs

https://www.wired.com/story/solar-panels-floating-in-reservoirs-well-drink-to-that/

[RJSV]

SOLAR FREAKIN COFFEE CUP

[SiliconWizard]

We don't need a solar panel or electricity to heat up water with sunlight. Just saying.

[RJSV]

Tired of cold coffee, an electric heater cannot be an additional household load, under international treaty of 2028.
So, I've added a solar freakin panel I had to spare, to power some low-grade heater wire...yet to be determined.  PLUS, an Arduino, perhaps.

[SiliconWizard]

Tired of cold coffee, an electric heater cannot be an additional household load, under international treaty of 2028.
So, I've added a solar freakin panel I had to spare, to power some low-grade heater wire...yet to be determined.  PLUS, an Arduino, perhaps.

 

[MrMobodies]

I'd find it interesting to see how long they'd last with the vibrations the panels are going to endure all day long.

[jonovid]

I saw this last week. It looks pretty reasonable to me.

Solar Panels Floating in Reservoirs

https://www.wired.com/story/solar-panels-floating-in-reservoirs-well-drink-to-that/

keeping solar panels cool is beneficial just as long as one can prevent metal corrosion in the vast network of wiring.
and stop water birds nesting , pooping on them. then this may work.

[Circlotron]

I saw this last week. It looks pretty reasonable to me.

Solar Panels Floating in Reservoirs

https://www.wired.com/story/solar-panels-floating-in-reservoirs-well-drink-to-that/

Being out on the water they might stay free of dust and other contaminants longer than land based panels. I remember an outboard motor I was working on once, from the factory didn't have an air cleaner on the carburettor.

[SiliconWizard]

But, it gets good public money! Money that comes out of nowhere (I could have been less polite!)
Hot air, financed by hot air, what's not to like?

[mendip_discovery]

That is the thing, isn't it? Hype it up, get some grants etc.

Spank the money of posh meals and a good PR. Get more money, and make a product that doesn't work. Go bust, meanwhile, you have had "business" trips to conferences and meetings with potential customers. Oh and pay yourself handsomely for all the excellent PR work that has been done.

Rinse and repeat.

[daqq]

The turd that simply won't flush.

[tom66]

I saw this last week. It looks pretty reasonable to me.

Solar Panels Floating in Reservoirs

https://www.wired.com/story/solar-panels-floating-in-reservoirs-well-drink-to-that/

Being out on the water they might stay free of dust and other contaminants longer than land based panels. I remember an outboard motor I was working on once, from the factory didn't have an air cleaner on the carburettor.

It's a good idea.  One additional advantage is by shielding the reservoir from light, you reduce the production of bromate which needs to be kept low. So downstream that reduces the cost of processing the water.  For the same reason,  California has put black plastic balls in their reservoirs.

[AndyBeez]

 

[MarkS]

That is the thing, isn't it? Hype it up, get some grants etc.

Spank the money of posh meals and a good PR. Get more money, and make a product that doesn't work. Go bust, meanwhile, you have had "business" trips to conferences and meetings with potential customers. Oh and pay yourself handsomely for all the excellent PR work that has been done.

Rinse and repeat.

That's the environmental movement in a nutshell. Use scare tactics to pressure people into funding needless projects that make a certain subset of the population rich while providing no real benefit and then applaud those that support the measures so they feel good about themselves and keep pressing for more projects and funding. Meanwhile, no real accomplishments are made, and if a project gets close to being truly useful, find a way to demonize it so that an alternative project can get funding.

Then rinse and repeat.

[RJSV]

Thanks MarkS,
for that last comment 'environmentalists in a nutshell'.

   I agree.  However, with a bit of what I perceive as bad luck, initially, it's turned out some degree of alarm is valid, in the face of some significant fraudery...
Meaning that the torqkes that pushing 'Eviron Justice' can maybe continue their inaccurate summaries, tangling in some racial angles, indigenous people affected more...Enabling those folks who may go down that (alarmist) road, regardless of validity.
   Reasonable folks gonna have to just, roll their eyes in valid disgust, endure the ACTUAL consequences, while simultaneously suffering (the fools) as misc. SOCIAL agendas get dialed in, intertwined so to speak, with the valid aspects of climate damaging industry.

   So if someone like, say, Elizabeth Warren gets to claim her 'indiginous rights, assumedly disproportionately affecting 'her' special racial status, then why, the hell, can't I ?
Claiming special 'racial' status, as an Irish descendant, a total POTHEAD, having to endure endless slurs like:
   "...You people stink...". (nasty cannabis oders).
 
    So, yeah, dear reader, you might think the above is a ridiculous and convoluted argument, (Irish Potheads deserve reparations, too).
   The hell it is!   Just valid as those other 'environmental justice' claims...

[abebarker]

I've thought solar roadways was a bad idea for over two decades. Solar railways is new to me but equally stupid.

In 2000 my dad asked me the question if putting solar cells on roads was a good idea. At the time, he was trying to source epoxy covered cells and could only get them out of India so it had some relevance. They would be covered in glass and all for the roads but still, very bad idea. Cleaning would be more costly than anticipated. An automobile accident would be that much more dangerous and costly. Completely bad idea.

However, the concept of using blacktop as a solar collector has merit. The best theoretical solar collector is a blackbody at 0° Kelvin. If it were possible to take as much heat as we wanted and convert it to electricity then wouldn't it just be responsible to calculate how much added energy the blacktop introduces to the environment and take that energy back out?