Solar track
A solar train is a rail vehicle that is mainly operated with solar energy from solar cells . It belongs to the solar vehicles .
The area available on the vehicle for solar cells is usually insufficient for sufficient acceleration, even with full solar radiation. However, there are various ways of bridging the lack of or insufficient solar radiation, for example:
- Accumulators for short and medium-term buffering of high instantaneous power, fed by the solar cells when the vehicle is not running;
- Double-layer capacitors for short-term buffering of high instantaneous power, fed when braking;
- Diesel generator for longer driving times without sun exposure;
as well as combinations thereof.
The low weight and high efficiency of all components are also decisive for the solar train , since only then is the relatively low output of current solar cells sufficient for everyday driving. The low rolling resistance of the wheel-rail system compared to other solar vehicles is a decisive advantage - so large batteries can be carried without the mean drive power increasing significantly.
The basic idea is that even a large mass does not need any energy to move around if, ideally, all of the energy used to accelerate the vehicle is fed back to the energy store (e.g. battery or capacitor ) when braking. Only the air resistance and the rolling resistance - very low in the case of rail vehicles - lead to losses and require drive power. The conversion losses of the motors / generators, the charging and discharging losses of the battery and the power loss of the electronic control must therefore be minimized particularly carefully.
So far there is no series production solar railway vehicle, but only a few prototypes worldwide. One of them was built by the mechanical engineer Hans-Ulrich Ottensmeyer from Lower Saxony; he used an accumulator for buffering, combined with regenerative braking. The prototype with the name “ELSE” (abbreviation for El ektrische S olar E isenbahn) with a track width of 600 millimeters shows that a solar train can in principle be implemented with the technology currently available (2007). The employees of the Királyrét narrow-gauge railway in Hungary have developed another model. The railcar called “Vili” went into operation in 2013 and transports day trippers over a distance of almost 12 kilometers north of Budapest. “Vili” runs on the narrow gauge of 760 millimeters that is customary in Hungary. Even when the sky is slightly cloudy, the vehicle generates enough energy via the solar panels on the roof to cover the distance safely.
See also
Web links
- ELSE, solar train prototype at Buchhorster Waldbahn
- Video about the solar train "Vili" of the Királyrét narrow-gauge railway (in Hungarian)
Individual evidence
- ^ Hungarian Tourism Agency: Narrow Gauge Railways. In: gotohungary.com. Hungarian Tourism Agency, accessed on August 22, 2016 .