Sun‑Ways, a Swiss start‑up, laid 48 photovoltaic panels along a 100‑metre stretch of the Buttes rail corridor in April 2025. The modules, totaling roughly 18 kilowatts, sit snugly between the parallel tracks and are engineered to be detached with specialised tools in about ten minutes, allowing routine maintenance without major disruption. The design marks the first removable solar plant ever installed on an active railway line.
Since the system went live in May, it has seen more than 11,000 trains pass over it at speeds up to 90 km/h, yet the panels have remained stable and have not posed any safety issues, according to Swissinfo’s on‑site reports. The energy yield has topped 16,000 kilowatt‑hours, enough to power three to four typical Swiss households for a year, and the data is being logged in real‑time by Sun‑Ways’ monitoring software.
Maintenance crews can remove a three‑panel block in roughly ten minutes, a process that has already been tested during a month‑long winter shutdown. The company also noted that the passing trains provide airflow that keeps dust from accumulating on the glass, reducing the need for mechanical cleaning systems that had been considered earlier.
Sun‑Ways estimates that its technology could be applied to the full 5,320‑kilometre Swiss network, potentially generating up to 1 billion kilowatt‑hours annually and supplying electricity to about 300,000 households. The company is now seeking regulatory approvals to roll out the system on additional 100‑metre segments, with the first commercial deployment slated for early 2027.