PKP Intercity, Poland’s largest rail operator, has announced the results of the “Railway for Science – #IC2030” competition, which was aimed at students and academic staff of universities, as well as representatives of research units entering start-ups. Its winners were students from the Kraków University of Technology’s Faculty of Mechanical Engineering: Dorota Zawadzka and Krzysztof Swałdek. 

They received first prize for their project ‘Solar energy support system for passenger carriages’, which concerns the use of photovoltaic panels on the roofs of carriages to reduce the consumption of electricity drawn from the traction network.

In their work, the students presented the possibility of using photovoltaic panels to power components of railway passenger carriages. The energy obtained in this way could be used for lighting, heating, air conditioning or 230 V sockets provided for passengers.