Right now, trains are rolling over solar panels somewhere in western Switzerland, and nobody had to chop down a forest or pave over a farm to make it happen.
A Swiss startup called Sun-Ways commissioned what might be the most unusual solar installation in the world on April 24, 2025. Today, 48 photovoltaic panels sit flush between the rails on a 100-meter stretch of active railway near the village of Buttes, low enough that trains pass directly overhead without slowing down. The panels are also completely removable. Maintenance crews can pull them out, do their work and put them back without shutting down the line.
