French railway company tests rail-mounted solar-plus-storage plant for works sites

With more than 113,800 hectares of land able to accommodate photovoltaics, French state-owned railway SNCF represents a significant resource for the deployment of ground-based solar.
To enhance the PV potential of inactive railway lines, the Architecture Recherche Engagement Post-carbone (AREP) subsidiary of the railway company’s station management division, SNCF Gares & Connexions, has developed a container-based solar-plus-storage plant that can be placed on rails and demounted when needed.

The Solveig project validated its proof of concept on Jan. 17 with the deployment of eight solar panels on rails at the Achères technical center, where they are being tested for six months. The system is based on standard shipping containers that carry eight photovoltaic panels, inverters, and energy storage batteries to railway sites by road or by rail.

“We have developed a system for delivering PV panels using ISO [International Organization for Standardization] containers and also a logistics method for installing them on railway tracks that facilitates the deployment of the panels as well as the reversibility of the installation,” said Alistair Lenczner, AREP’s director of innovation projects at AREP, in an interview with pv magazine France.
A telescopic arm unloads panels which are then fixed to rails to avoid wind exposure. The temporary, modular installation requires no foundations.

AREP aims to optimize the system to make it more efficient and economical. There is no schedule for an industrialization phase yet.

The Solveig system is designed for SNCF energy use and local consumption, for example during works, but could be deployed on a wider basis if there is sufficient demand.
Lenczner said the solution has the potential to be exported worldwide because it is standardized and adapted to all logistical constraints thanks to its containerized design.
From pv magazine France.