To prepare the application for authorisation to install the pilot project, which will be located near the Buttes (Neuchâtel) railway station, it was necessary to manufacture prototypes in 2023 and carry out specific additional tests and measurements. In fact, the Vaud-based start-up had to carry out numerous expert appraisals to demonstrate that its system was perfectly compatible with the very high FOT's safety criteria, since the pilot installation will operate on a railroad line open to rail traffic.
As Switzerland considers the installation of solar power plants on the mountains of the Alps, it seems that Sun-Ways technology could provide a relevant answer to the need to increase the production of electricity from solar sources. Indeed, the technology developed by the Vaud-based start-up exploits the unused space between the two rails of a railroad track to install solar power plants, without disrupting train traffic or track maintenance and inspection work.
Sun-Ways technology has two features that make it unique in the world. The first feature is that it can be installed either manually or mechanically, using a railway machine specially designed by Scheuchzer SA, a pioneer in railway maintenance. This machine can install up to 1,000 m2 of solar panels per day. The second feature is that it is removable, i.e. all or part of a Sun-Ways solar power plant can be quickly removed for maintenance work, before being replaced so that it can operate again.
In Switzerland, the potential for solar production is 1 TWh per year (consumption of 300,000 households), on the 5,000 km of railroads' tracks, and saves over 200,000 tons of CO2 per year. Sun-Ways could thus offer a solution with no environmental or visual impact and would be able to generate 30% of the electricity needs of the entire public transport sector in Switzerland, significantly increasing their energy independence.
It took the FOT's experts 10 months to examine the application for authorisation submitted by transN, Public transport in the canton of Neuchâtel, which will host the pilot project. In the summer of 2023, the Federal Office of Transport had initially refused to enter the matter, as a precautionary measure, not having any technical references on which to base its decision. However, the start-up, backed by recognized industrial partners in the rail and energy sectors, called on two mechanical engineering professors from HEIG-VD to carry out an independent assessment on prototypes specially built for the occasion, thus completing the technical and safety files drawn up by GESTE Engineering, a company specialising in large-scale rail engineering projects.
Taking advantage of this waiting time, Sun-Ways was able to gain notoriety by taking part in various start-up competitions. It was supported by Venture Kick and has just won two innovation prizes in France, one awarded by the Powr Earth Foundation and the other by the Equans group. More concretely, pilot projects are taking shape with the SNCF in France, but also in Spain, Romania and South Korea, and discussions are already underway with potential partners in China, Thailand, Australia and the USA.
In Switzerland, Sun-Ways has developed a special service for owners of private, non-trafficked railroads providing access to warehouses or industrial estates. For example, the municipality of Aigle has agreed to carry out a feasibility study to install a 288 kWp Sun-Ways solar power plant on a 1,500-metre section of private railroad track serving its industrial zone, to be financed by an external investor.
The installation of the solar power plant and the electrical connections to the local grid will be carried out in spring 2025 by Viteos, the electricity distributor in the canton of Neuchâtel, and DG-Rail, a company specialising in railway electrical installations.