The evolution of renewable-energy technologies is full of surprises. No industry appears untouched, and new possibilities emerge all the time. For example, the confluence of solar power, storage and electric vehicles is revolutionizing the dynamic of energy consumption and transportation. The transformation doesn’t stop there. 


Consider the case of railway solar. In an essay for the online portal GreenTech Media, environmental author and advocate Tam Hunt examines the untapped potential of solar panels in the railway sector. The energy savings and the reduction of carbon emissions dwarf that of electric vehicles.


Hunt cites studies that reveal electric trains are 50–75 percent less polluting than single-passenger cars and trucks and use comparably less energy per passenger-mile.


Trains have the added advantage of carrying many people. They have always been promoted as a solution for traffic congestion. Electric trains are much less polluting than their fossil-fuel-burning cousins. Add solar power to their profile, and the efficiencies are tremendous.


Hunt describes the benefits of putting solar on train station rooftops, parking lots and on canopies over or adjacent to the tracks.


“Electric trains are so efficient that a single 300-watt (W) solar panel can provide up to 7,000 miles of an individual’s commuting miles per year, or 5 to 20 miles per day,” Hunt said.


The railway infrastructure’s generating capacity is also vast.


“One mile of train tracks can support 1 megawatt to 3 megawatts of solar panels,” Hunt said. That’s enough to provide a whopping 2 million to 6 million passenger-miles of train travel.


In contrast, Hunt said, “The equivalent miles from one 300W solar panel for a regular electric car would be just 1,600 miles per year, or about 40 percent of the national average for U.S. electric trains.”