Swiss Startup Turns Train Tracks Into Solar Power Plants
A Swiss start-up’s system to quickly install and remove solar panels between train tracks is now being tested. The “revolutionary” technology is attracting interest from other countries.
The idea came to Joseph Scuderi in 2020, as he waited for a train at Renens station near Lausanne. What if the vast unused space between railway tracks could be harnessed for clean energy? Five years later, that thought has become reality.
On April 24, Scuderi and his Swiss startup, Sun-Ways, unveiled the country’s first removable solar panel system installed directly on active railway tracks. The pilot project, 100 meters of solar panels laid along the tracks in Buttes, a village in the canton of Neuchâtel, is a significant leap in integrating renewable energy into existing transport infrastructure.
“We installed the solar panels just like we would on a house roof,” Scuderi explained at the rainy launch event. “Getting this far has been a miracle.”
A World First: Removable Panels for Active Rails
While solar energy has already been integrated into rail systems in countries like Germany, Italy, France and Japan, Sun-Ways is the first to develop a removable photovoltaic system for tracks that are in regular use. The innovation could unlock a massive area of underutilized surface for clean energy generation.
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“This is a great idea,” said Martin Heinrich, a researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Europe’s largest solar research centre. “Using built environments like railways for PV deployment is smarter than installing large-scale panels in natural landscapes.”
The Buttes installation features 48 solar panels mounted on the sleepers—horizontal beams supporting the rails. A custom-built machine, developed in collaboration with Swiss rail maintenance firm Scheuchzer, can deploy or remove nearly 1,000 square metres of solar panels within hours. This removable feature is critical for routine track maintenance. A cylindrical cleaning brush can also be attached to trains to keep the panels free of debris.
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Supported by a dozen industry partners and Innosuisse (the Swiss Agency for Innovation Promotion), the project’s trial phase is backed by a CHF 585,000 ($704,600) budget.
Aiming for 2% of Swiss Power Supply
The electricity generated in Buttes will feed into the local grid, with an annual output of 16,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh)—enough to power four to six households. Sun-Ways estimates that up to one billion kWh of solar energy could be generated annually if solar panels were installed along Switzerland’s 5,320-kilometre rail network, excluding tunnels and shaded areas. That would meet the electricity needs of approximately 300,000 households—or 2% of the country’s consumption.
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With a goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2035, Switzerland must increase its solar power output sevenfold. Public transport infrastructure is seen as a major opportunity. According to Florence Pictet, spokesperson for the Federal Office of Transport (FOT), roofs and facades of stations and platform shelters could help public transport providers generate 20–30% of their electricity needs.
However, the FOT remains cautious. The Buttes trial was approved because the line has a relatively low speed limit of 70 km/h. Officials mandated a three-year test period, longer than Sun-Ways originally planned, to evaluate the system’s long-term performance and ensure safety across seasons.
A Scalable Vision With Global Interest
The concept has drawn international attention. Sun-Ways is exploring similar projects in South Korea, Spain, and Romania, and is in early talks with potential partners in China and the United States.
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TaeBon Park, president of a South Korean tech firm working with the country’s Ministry of Infrastructure, sees strong potential. “We chose Sun-Ways because it’s a mature and practical technology compatible with railway maintenance,” he said. A pilot project in South Korea is expected to launch this year.
In Indonesia, Mutitron Automa plans to pilot the system in the city of Bogor before expanding across West Java.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism is monitoring the project closely as it explores new strategies to meet its 2050 decarbonisation targets.
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While some experts, like Heinrich, argue that the removability of panels may complicate long-term cost-efficiency, others, such as Lubomila Jordanova of Greentech Alliance, call the approach “highly scalable, efficient, and environmentally friendly.”
The Road (or Rail) Ahead
Over the next three years, Scuderi and his team will gather data to assess whether active railways can reliably double as solar power plants. If successful, a moment of inspiration at a train station could help redefine how countries harness renewable energy, without sacrificing land or infrastructure.
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