this post was submitted on 12 Nov 2024
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sounds very silly, like the solar roadways
At least the weight isn't on the panels this time. I think there are better places to put them, though.
yep. at least to me it feels like the fact that its between the rails is just to make it cooler, not actually for any real benefit. i love solar, but this project sounds sus
It being between the rails probably makes it easier to automate most of the installation, cleaning, and removal at the end of their life.
At the cost of making any maintenance harder, creating a very long layout so no likelihood of redundant connections, and putting breakable objects in a high impact zone
If the system is made well, maybe it can be very easy to drive a carriage over them and remove a lot of them relatively quickly.
I wonder if they can get away with just using a single bolt for each panel. Or maybe none, just long pins and the power connection. Unplug and lift straight up? Maybe it doesn't have to be a big issue.
I'll have to check if there are detailed plans.
I dunno, to me it sounded like an interesting experiment. Experiments sometimes go well, sometimes they fail.
Not so sure why you compare it to the solar roads tho, it's not that the solar panels have to sustain the weight of the train, since they are going to be between the rails. Of course there are a tone of things that can go wrong. One thing for example that made me wonder - and it is not addressed in this article - is in relation to the vibrations of the rails. Solar panels don't respond well to vibrations, at all. But, they also mention that the initial test went well and they got the permits to test them for spring of 2025. Let's see?