Peculiarities of Application of Helioenergetics for Signaling, Interlocking and Blocking Devices at the Railroad Transport

The article reviews the problem of replacement of energy supply sources at the railroad transport, in particular the sources used to feed signaling, centralizing and interlocking (SIB) devices, from generators operating on DGA type diesel fuel, to renewable energy sources, in particular to solar photovoltaics stations (SPVS) of small and medium capacity. No such research was done at the railroad transport so far. With the purpose of improving the ecological situation and reducing the diesel fuel use, it is necessary to switch to helioenergetics, since it is ecologically sound, plus the insolation level in the Russian Far East is quite high (4% less than in the city of Sochi). To commence these researches we will be limited so far to solar photovoltaics plants (SPVP) of small capacity that are capable of serving several spans of a railroad track. It is necessary though to take into account regional peculiarities of a railroad track while calculating SPVP. First of all it's relatively long extension of tracks as well as severe climate conditions. In the article it is proposed to use SPVP of up to 1,500 W capacity. Such SPVP is suitable for two “Ohmiks” of 630 W and 1,250 W, respectively. Economic evaluation of the cost of 1 kWh per 1 year and for ten years for those two “Ohmiks” was done. Data concerning the term of energy payback for a SPVP is provided.