Sun-Ways was born out of the desire to address two major global challenges: the urgent need to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy and the underutilization of space in industrial infrastructure. With over 1,000,000 km² of unused land between railways worldwide, and 260,000 km² in Europe alone, Sun-Ways has identified an innovative solution. By exploiting this vast unexploited surface, we aim to revolutionize photovoltaic (PV) energy production while contributing to the global decarbonization and electrification of mobility.
HANGING SYSTEM
Since 2021, Sun-Ways has aimed to change the way we produce solar electricity by installing removable solar power plants between railway tracks.
In addition to the fact that Sun-Ways installations have no impact on the landscape and the environment, the patented system of attachment between the rails allows the rapid mechanical installation and removal of a large number of solar panels. This facilitates the work of installers, but also of railway track maintenance teams.
INNOVATION
Sun-Ways is an industrial process for exploiting the surfaces between railway tracks to place removable photovoltaic power plants.
The development potential is based on the following 4 elements:
The various national energy strategies promote the development of renewable energies, in particular photovoltaic energy.
Lack of available space and high labor costs are obstacles to the development of this energy.
Europe has more than 260,000 km of railway tracks and the rest of the world more than 1,000,000 km.
The technical development of Sun-Ways is almost complete and once the permits have been obtained, it will be possible to quickly install several hundred km of railway tracks by 2025 in Switzerland and by 2030 in Europe.
WHY?
A simple question with 5 response axes:
The space between the rails is large enough to accommodate standard-sized photovoltaic panels without hindering train traffic, and the sleepers on which the photovoltaic panels rest have no other function than to ensure a regular spacing of the rails.
The installation is done mechanically using a special train and the installation of a 1000 m2 (1 km) solar power plant takes only a few hours.
The electricity produced by PV can be injected directly into the catenaries used for train traction (in the near future) or into the public electricity grid. Swiss railway networks could produce 1 TWh of electricity from solar per year, or 30% of the consumption of all public transport companies in Switzerland.
No visual or environmental impact and quick and cost-effective implementation.
The team
Sun-Ways is now made up of a small team with complementary skills.
Since 2021, we have been working tirelessly to solve the engineering and undertake the manufacturing of our patented Sun-Ways system. The installation of our pilot project is now our main focus for the year 2023.
