The manufacturer claims that durability should not be an issue. Time will tell.
I would expect that the solar panels impact the efficiency at least somewhat but apparently not enough to cause real and enough issues for the SBB or perhaps they see ways to improve this in the future.
On paper, this should be pretty cheap. Normally, you need some mounting infrastructure to put the panels on, land preparation, etc. In this case, the train track provides the supporting infrastructure. You can bring in the panels via train wagons. Installation should be pretty quick and straightforward. And for cleaning, you could just do that from a rail wagon as well. Not having to truck in anything seems like it should be a big bonus here.
Durability might actually be fine. Solar panels are pretty reliable. And it's not like the train is in direct contact with the panels. The vibrations might be a challenge but presumably that would have shown up in the trials. It's something you could engineer solutions for. And so what if a small amount of panels fail?
But a train company practically always has running trains when the sun is shining. So they wouldn’t need to worry about disabling and losing money on the panels.
The real challenge is economically connecting the panels to a rail substation.
And getting approval to widen the right of way, where it’s even physically possible, and issues around flora suppression.
How is this different than any other power generation install?
No one should pretend that the energy transition is free. The final system we will arrive at can be ver