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Solar Photovoltaic
Trains and solar panels to recharge electric cars
4-1-2012“Rail chargers” have been born. Antonio González Marín, the President of Spain’s Railway Infrastructures Administrator (ADIF), and Ángel Luis Serrano Serrano, President of Isofotón and Vice President of Affirma, have signed a non-exclusive marketing agreement for the “rail charger” system (known in Spanish as “Ferrolinera”) for a period of three years, setting forth the formulae for cooperating to roll out this system in Spain and abroad.
The “Ferrolinera” system, explain the architects of the project, “is a pioneering research project in the area of sustainability and energy efficiency that is being developed with the framework of Adif’s innovation strategic agenda.” It has a high potential for development and will allow battery charging points for electric cars to be installed at Adif’s railway stations and logistics centres.
The chargers will draw energy from the electrical substations feeding power to the rail network’s overhead power lines, while energy will be recovered from the braking of trains as well as from solar photovoltaic modules located on parking shelters. This power will be used to recharge electric vehicle batteries using the overhead power lines, an electrical energy storage system, and a network of supply points.
The developers of the project believe that “it will help boost the Spanish electric vehicle industry and improve environmental sustainability through the ability to install charging points across the Spanish rail network, which is 13,000 km long and has more than 1,500 stations and facilities that may be utilised by the system”.
In addition, a more streamlined and intelligent system for handling the energy generated from the braking of trains could be devised which would take into account the amount of traffic and electric power present in the rail network. The project received a grant of €1,485,268 through the INNPACTO programme launched by the Ministry of Science and Innovation.
Isofotón’s President expressed his satisfaction “to be able to join forces with Adif in this ambitious project, which will enable us to offer cutting edge and highly competitive Spanish technology to the world. We can also benefit from our country’s excellent reputation in the rail and photovoltaic sectors, in which we lead on technological development”.
The project is led by the Ministry of Public Works through Adif, and is being developed at Adif’s Centre for Railway Technologies (CTF) in Malaga. Other participants are Acisa, Andel, Windinertia, Green Power, Isofotón, the Technology Institute of Andalusia and the universities of Seville, Malaga and Jaen.
For additional information:
www.isofoton.com
