![]() ![]() Murray said the railways will be able to cut their running costs and benefit local communities while playing a part in tackling the climate crisis. By the end of 2020, Riding Sunbeams hopes to build and connect the world’s first-ever full-scale community- and commuter-owned solar farm to UK railways. Leo Murray, the director of Riding Sunbeams, said future projects across the UK could be community-owned, and pay back benefits to local community funds. The findings come as plans to electrify Britain’s rail lines have faltered in recent years owing to concern about costs. The falling cost of solar power technologies means these subsidy-free solar farms could supply electricity at a lower cost than the electricity supplied via the grid. Innovate UK awarded the project funding from the Department of Transport after it proved that connecting solar power directly to rail, tube and tram networks could help meet a significant share of their electricity needs.Īn aerial view of the trackside solar farm. The researchers began work on the plans over two years ago to discover whether bypassing the electricity grid could make solar power a more efficient energy source for trains. There is also scope for solar trams in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Nottingham, London and Manchester, according to the team. The research team behind the project, called Riding Sunbeams, estimates that solar could power 20% of the Merseyrail network in Liverpool, as well as 15% of commuter routes in Kent, Sussex and Wessex. Stuart Kistruck, a director for Network Rail’s Wessex route, said: “We have ambitions to roll this technology out further across the network should this demonstrator project prove successful, so we can deliver a greener, better railway for our passengers and the wider public.” Network Rail hopes to use the scheme, developed by the charity 10:10 Climate Action and Imperial College London, to solar-charge its rail lines across the country. But the Aldershot project is the first time a solar array will bypass the electricity grid to plug directly into a railway’s “traction” system. Solar panels are already used to power the operations of train stations, including Blackfriars in central London. This could help reduce air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and costs. The solar breakthrough comes as Network Rail plans to spend billions of pounds electrifying rail lines to avoid running trains on diesel. The 30kW pilot scheme could pave the way for a larger project capable of directly powering the trains that use this route from next year. ![]()
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