This is the world’s first entirely solar train and it is up and running in Byron Bay, Australia. The Byron Bay Railroad Company started off with a heritage train and added 6.5 kilowatts of solar panels. This solar train can carry 100 seated passengers, a few standing passengers, luggage, bikes, and more. More details, pictures, and video after the break.
The flexible solar panels are made by SunMan Solar. These panels charge up a 77 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery pack which can make between 12-15 trips. This battery system is smaller than a fully loaded Tesla Model S. If they need more charging than the trains panels can provide, they can also charge via the train stations solar array. The solar train uses just four kWh for each leg of a trip and has regenerative braking which recovers about 25-percent of spent energy.
