【龙腾网】铁路上的阳光：太阳能火车能使铁路运输更加环保

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Sun on the rails

铁路上的阳光

Solar-powered trains could make rail transport greener

太阳能火车能使铁路运输更加环保

Solar panels are connected directly to the line

太阳能电池板与铁路直接相连

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.

在伦敦西南50公里的艾迪索特镇，通勤族可能没太注意铁路旁的一小排太阳能电池板，它们可以使未来的火车旅行更加环保。该地区试验将太阳能电力直供给铁路，它的新奇之处就在于“直供”。与许多国家一样，太阳能已经馈入英国电网，火车司机连接的正是该电网。所以在某种意义上，许多电力火车已经用上一部分太阳能。但如果将太阳能电池板与铁路本身连接，火车的供电效率将得到提升。

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.

不可否认，目前电力还不充足。在大约37千瓦的功率下，该地能轻而易举地为“特斯拉”电动汽车充满电，但电力火车可能无法行驶很远。这没有关系，因为现阶段是概念性试验而非铁路运营。这一概念是可行的，英国国有铁路基础设施运营商“铁路网公司”的南方工程总监斯图尔特·基斯特朗说道。

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这样的企业面临一个难题，电网很少被设计成接受小型和不同来源的供电，所以很难布置馈入装置。但接触轨提供了新的方案，公司负责人里奥·默里说道。该公司与铁路网公司拟定了一份适用于安装更大装置的地区名单。

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.

除了绿色公关，铁路网公司还能从中得到什么？首先，铁路两旁有许多闲置土地，可供太阳能电池板的安装。电池板会给植被遮挡阳光，减缓其生长，减少必要的修剪。将“铁轨上有树叶”当作火车晚点的借口多少成了英国的笑料，但火车车轮因树叶打滑的现象是个大问题。

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.

火车厢顶盖安装太阳能电池板的空间有限，这意味着发电量不足以驱动整列火车。然而，位于澳大利亚布利斯班附近的史迹铁路“拜伦湾火车”接近这一目标。这辆火车由两节车厢组成，完全依靠火车顶盖和停车棚上的太阳能电池板产生的电量运行。这辆经过改造的火车始建于1949年，载客量96人，全程线路仅3公里——但澳大利亚是一个阳光充沛的国家，伦敦的通勤族可没这样的好运气。