Australia’s Solar Train

Let’s do some math and physics associated with the claim made here.  The typical passenger train requires about 5 megawatts.  If the average efficiency of solar PV is 25%, and its capacity factor is also 25%, and the solar irradiance is 1000 Watts/square meter, we need:

x square meters * 1000 Watts/square meter * 0.25 * 0.25 * 10 square feet / square meter * 1 acre / 43000 square feet / acre = 5,000,000 Watts.

That means we need about 20 acres of train roof to get that done.  If the train is 20 feet wide, it needs to be almost a mile long.  Does that describe the typical passenger train?

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