New Rail Study

[nkp_174]

streak across the desert at 220 mph,
The train would require 110 megawatts of electricity,

Hmm... The AMD-103 generates 3MW of power. The most powerful TGV draws 12MW of electricity. So I presume that they are saying that the solar collection is 10% efficient? Or is it that the network will support 10 trains at once?

I know that some 2nd and 3rd generation solar panels are much better than the 1st generation panels (which were used with the 10lb cars moving at 20mph across the desert...or whatever it was...which unintentionally illustrated how unfeasible solar power was at that time).

Still, they're dreaming...and that is a good thing. I wonder whether the power requirements are just not clearly reported...or whether the scheme is not fully developed. If the entire track is lined with solar panels, I'd hate to see the Maintenance costs...