Solar Power Trains. It sounds like something you might get from a toy store, right? Well, you can’t get this from the mall, but I assure you they are cooler than any gadget you can find at the Sharper Image.
These power trains are not the same as electric trains or rail cars that run on electricity. Instead, they actually make power! They use the same principle as many hybrid cars do today, regenerative braking. Regenerative braking pairs with with gravity to create the power. This is the process of taking kinetic energy created by slowing the car or object, and converting it to electricity for use or for storage.
It works like this: during the night or when power use is low, the train will work its way up the mountain. Then, when power demand is high, the train will gradually roll back down the hill, creating on-demand electricity when it’s needed the most.
This concept of on-demand power for peak times has been around for a long time. In many parts of the country, we pump water to a high elevation reservoir and then let it flow back down through a turbine. However these trains have a leg up because they have a better response time for producing on-demand energy. This quicker response is only rivaled by batteries — which, by the way, the train is packed full of!
The first of its kind is being built in Nevada and will have the capability of producing 50 Mega Watts of power. Named ARES, or Advanced Rail Energy Storage, it will work over a 5.5-mile stretch known as the “Sisyphus Railroad.”
This is just one extraordinary example of what can be done with a combination of renewable energy power sources and battery energy storage. As we like to say at Sunbright Solar, the Future is Bright! Want to be part of the clean energy revolution, yourself? Give Sunbright Solar a call anytime — (520) 235-8133
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