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Sun on the rails

鐵路上的陽光

Solar-powered trains could make rail transport greener

太陽能火車能使鐵路運輸更加環保

Solar panels are connected directly to the line

太陽能電池板與鐵路直接相連


Commuters may not have paid them much attention, but a small array of solar panels next to the railway line at Aldershot, a town 50km (30 miles) south-west of London, could herald a greener future for train travel. The site is an experiment to supply electricity generated from sunlight directly to a railway line. It is the “directly” bit that is novel. In Britain, as in many places, solar power is already fed into the grid, and it is the grid which train operators plug into. So, in a sense, many electric trains already use some solar power. But by connecting the panels to the line itself, trains can be powered more efficiently.

在倫敦西南50公里的艾迪索特鎮，通勤族可能沒太注意鐵路旁的一小排太陽能電池板，它們可以使未來的火車旅行更加環保。該地區試驗將太陽能電力直供給鐵路，它的新奇之處就在于“直供”。與許多國家一樣，太陽能已經饋入英國電網，火車司機連接的正是該電網。所以在某種意義上，許多電力火車已經用上一部分太陽能。但如果將太陽能電池板與鐵路本身連接，火車的供電效率將得到提升。

Admittedly, it is not at present a lot of power. At around 37 kilowatts the site could easily top up the battery of a Tesla electric car, but it might not move an electric train very far. That does not matter at this stage, because it is there to test a concept rather than run a railway. And the concept is working, says Stuart Kistruck, director of engineering for the southern region of Network Rail, the government-owned operator of railway infrastructure in Britain.

不可否認，目前電力還不充足。在大約37千瓦的功率下，該地能輕而易舉地為“特斯拉”電動汽車充滿電，但電力火車可能無法行駛很遠。這沒有關系，因為現階段是概念性試驗而非鐵路運營。這一概念是可行的，英國國有鐵路基礎設施運營商“鐵路網公司”的南方工程總監斯圖爾特·基斯特朗說道。

Network Rail is working on the project in collaboration with Imperial College, London, and Riding Sunbeams, a not-for-profit company set up by climate activists to promote locally owned renewable-energy projects. The plan now is to scale up the idea and roll it out elsewhere.

在該項目上，鐵路網公司正在與倫敦帝國學院、Riding Sunbeams公司開展合作，后者是氣候活動人士創立的一家非盈利企業，旨在推動本土的可再生能源建設項目?，F在的計劃是擴大規模，并在其他地區推廣。

Connecting up the Aldershot site was made easier by a quirk of history. When the electrification of Britain’s railways began in the late 19th century, two systems were used. In much of the country overhead lines were installed, but in crowded south-east England a “third rail” was used instead. This consists of a conductor rail placed alongside the track on insulated brackets. A pickup shoe near the wheels of the train draws power from this rail.

歷史的偶然方便了艾迪索特地區的電力接通。英國鐵路電氣化始于19世紀末，當時采用了兩種系統。英國大部分地區安裝了接觸網，而人口密集的東南地區采用了“第三軌”。該系統包括與鐵軌并列放置、安裝于絕緣支架上的接觸軌，車輪附近用于取電的集電靴。

Third-rail systems tend to be employed in urban railways because they are easier and cheaper than making tunnels and bridges large enough to accommodate overhead cables—and the railway lines of southern Britain have plenty of low bridges and tunnels. For safety and other reasons, third-rail systems typically operate at 750 volts dc, a much lower voltage than overhead lines, which in Britain run at 25 kilovolts ac. As it happens, solar arrays typically put out dc current at 600-800 volts, which reduces the complexity and cost of connecting them to the railway line. Another convenience is that, to reduce transmission losses, third-rail networks have more closely spaced substations. These provide handy feed-in points for lineside solar power.

“第三軌”系統多用于城市鐵路，因為相比建造足以容納接觸網的隧道和橋梁（英國南方的鐵路有許多低矮的橋梁和隧道）第三軌的建造難度更小，成本更低。出于安全和其他因素考慮，“第三軌”系統的電壓通常為直流750伏，遠低于英國接觸網的交流25千伏。湊巧的是，太陽能電池板輸出的直流電通常為600-800伏，降低了與鐵路連接的復雜性和成本。另一個便利之處是減少輸電損耗，“第三軌”網絡的變電站間隔較小。這一切都為鐵路沿線的太陽能提供了便利的饋入點。

Plug’n’play
One problem facing groups like Riding Sunbeams is that electricity grids are rarely designed to accept power from small and varied sources, so feed-in arrangements can be hard to set up. A passing railway line, however, provides an alternative, says Leo Murray, the company’s director. Along with Network Rail, Riding Sunbeams has drawn up a list of other sites that might be suitable for larger installations.

像Riding Sunbeams這樣的企業面臨一個難題，電網很少被設計成接受小型和不同來源的供電，所以很難布置饋入裝置。但接觸軌提供了新的方案，公司負責人里奧·默里說道。該公司與鐵路網公司擬定了一份適用于安裝更大裝置的地區名單。

Apart from green pr, what does Network Rail get out of this? First, there is a lot of unused land next to railway lines, where solar panels could be placed. Those panels would also shade vegetation, reducing its growth and the amount of cutting-back required. The “leaves on the line” excuse for late-running trains is a bit of a joke in Britain, but the slippery conditions leaves cause for train wheels are a big problem.

除了綠色公關，鐵路網公司還能從中得到什么？首先，鐵路兩旁有許多閑置土地，可供太陽能電池板的安裝。電池板會給植被遮擋陽光，減緩其生長，減少必要的修剪。將“鐵軌上有樹葉”當作火車晚點的借口多少成了英國的笑料，但火車車輪因樹葉打滑的現象是個大問題。

Second, it is a good deal. Lineside solar electricity will be cheaper than that from the grid, Mr Kistruck calculates. Overall, he reckons, 10% of the southern region’s power needs might be met this way. Such savings are not to be sniffed at. With around 40% of the country’s rail system electrified, Network Rail is Britain’s biggest single user of electricity. It has an annual bill of around ￡300m ($390m) just for traction.

其次，這筆交易很劃算。據基斯特朗先生估算，鐵路沿線的太陽能電力比電網提供的電力更便宜?？傮w而言，他估算這種方式可滿足南方地區10%的用電需求?？蓜e小看省下來的這筆錢，由于英國約40%的鐵路系統已實現電氣化，鐵路網公司是英國最大的電力用戶，每年光是用于牽引的電費就高達約3億英鎊（3.9億美元）。
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The idea could also be employed elsewhere, and not just on urban lines. With additional work it might be adapted for overhead-powered systems as well. It looks particularly promising in countries beyond cloudy Britain. India, for instance, is keen on using solar power to electrify its rail system. Indian Railways has been fitting solar panels onto the roofs of some train carriages. They are still pulled by dirty diesel-powered locomotives, but the panels run the lights, fans and information displays, which saves some fuel.

這種方法也可用于其他國家，而且不局限于城市鐵路，經過改造還可用于接觸網供電系統。除了多云天氣的英國，這種方法在其他國家有很好的應用前景。例如，印度渴望用太陽能實現鐵路系統電氣化。印度鐵路公司一直在給某些火車車廂的頂蓋安裝太陽能電池板，車廂依然使用污染環境的柴油機車牽引，但太陽能電池板為照明、風扇、信息顯示器提供電力，從而節省一部分燃料。

The limited space available for solar panels on train roofs means that not enough power could be produced to propel an entire train. However, the Byron Bay Train, a heritage railway near Brisbane, Australia, comes close. It is a two-car unit that runs entirely on energy from solar panels on its roof and on the roof of its shed. The converted train, originally dating from 1949, can carry 96 passengers on a route just 3km long—but in a part of the world blessed with plenty of sunshine. London’s commuters have no such luck.

火車廂頂蓋安裝太陽能電池板的空間有限，這意味著發電量不足以驅動整列火車。然而，位于澳大利亞布利斯班附近的史跡鐵路“拜倫灣火車”接近這一目標。這輛火車由兩節車廂組成，完全依靠火車頂蓋和停車棚上的太陽能電池板產生的電量運行。這輛經過改造的火車始建于1949年，載客量96人，全程線路僅3公里——但澳大利亞是一個陽光充沛的國家，倫敦的通勤族可沒這樣的好運氣。