NL1036575C2 - SOLAR SYSTEM THAT PRODUCES ELECTRICITY ABOVE RAIL LINES. - Google Patents

Description

Solar system that produces electricity above railway lines.

The invention relates to a system in which sustainable electricity is made by placing solar systems [1] above railway lines. These can be 5 railway lines of trains, above-ground parts of subways, of trolleys and of trams [2]. This can be solar systems with solar panels or with solar film.

Solar systems can be installed on the portals above those railways that can be installed over the entire width and over the entire length of a railway (see side view, figure 1), continuously as desired over the station roofs.

Solar panels or solar film are placed above the trains above or on the existing overhead lines. Use can be made of support on the existing steel constructions of the overhead lines of the trains, the existing overhead line portals [3] with the electric wires for the power supply of the trains [4] attached as standard, the tension wires for their suspension [5] and the pantographs [6]. Extra horizontal steel beams [7] can be used to create an additional grid on top of these overhead wiring portals on which the solar systems can be placed if desired (see top view, figure 2). Because the existing span length is generally too large, it is anticipated that one or more additional columns [8] will be placed between the existing columns (with the necessary reinforcements) to obtain sufficient support for the solar system and any snow load on it and to ensure sufficient strength and stiffness in hurricanes.

Visually the design looks like indicated in figures 3 (section) and 4 (bottom view).

With an average width of a track portal of (assumed) approximately 12 m, with a total track length of approximately 2,800 km in the Netherlands, approximately 6,200,000,000 kWh of renewable electricity can be produced, good for the electricity consumption of approximately 2 million households. Some tracks do not have overhead lines, but many track yards do, and they have a much larger width, so that such a system can be installed there over that full width.

1036575 2

When using solar panels, with an average of 0.6 kg of CO2 emissions at the power stations per kWh, the CO2 reduction is around 3.7 million tonnes per year when applying solar panels to all railway lines in the Netherlands. The environmental costs are 0 (zero) because in the first year the cost price is already lower than the electricity price for households from the public grid without this invention.

If solar panels are installed above all railway lines in the Netherlands during installation, employment is one-off, around 75,900 person-years and recurring annually for maintenance around 1,210 person-years.

Because the electrical voltage of the train overhead lines is high there could be a disturbing electromagnetic field from there which could negatively influence the yield of the solar systems. Although the steel structure works like a Faraday cage [9], provision is still made for the installation of an additional electromagnetic insulation layer, a thin steel grid, between the train overhead lines and the solar systems. The solar system layer is thereby shielded from the electromagnetic action of the high-voltage cables that run under the portals, so that this influence is prevented.

On both sides of the solar systems, rainwater gutters [10] have been projected in the longitudinal direction which make it possible to collect rainwater and thawing snow and to discharge or use them in a controlled manner.

Because the rails are thus covered, no or less snow and rainwater falls on the rails and probably also fewer leaves from the trees.

To cope with extreme weather conditions, the steel structure will be suitable for absorbing extreme wind power. Even extremely high snow loads must be absorbed without problems. Melting snow can be discharged via the rainwater drainage gutters that come on both sides in the longitudinal direction. If necessary, additional support columns can be arranged sideways.

3

To make it possible for trains that have been derailed to get back on track, certain openings [11] in the solar system are left free for the passage of hoisting cables. The solar segments are mounted in such a way that, if necessary, they can be removed quickly per package.

5 From a maneuvering site, a start can be made for applying the extra steel beam layer over the existing rail portals. The transport of these beam segments can be done over the track length per track segment with the aid of wheel wheels which support in the rainwater drainage channels, which are first arranged on opposite sides of the track and which will be made sufficiently strong for that purpose. In the longitudinal direction, each part and every subsequent part from the shunting site can be slid over the previously arranged steel beam part. If a track is provided with this extra layer of beams, the solar panel segments can then be rolled over it to the end of this track segment and be mounted per segment. The next segment can then be rolled backwards with continuous pull cables at the rear up to the start of the route until the entire track section is covered. Then the solar system cabling is installed and connected or the electricity distribution system. At the location of certain road 20 and waterway intersections, this will be continued underground or at height.

The installation of the solar system will in part have to be done if the track in question is de-energized, so mainly during the night.

The electricity generated can be fed into the station electricity network and / or into the low-voltage network [12] at suitable places, for example at stations and towns and villages, instead of a power station at or in the village or at or in the concerning city district.

For railways without overhead lines where diesel trains are currently running, this option is especially attractive if electrification of those routes is decided on from sustainability motives. The solar systems above these trajectories to be electrified will then be considerably cheaper because part of the overhead contact line voltage costs will then be charged to the electrification. The additional costs of installing solar systems at the same time are more favorable in those cases because then everything can be done in one go.

1036575

Claims (1)

A facility with the characteristic that it produces sustainable electricity from solar energy above railway lines. Because the solar systems ensure that the railway lines are covered, less rain, snow and leaves will fall on the rails. 1036575