Study of the application of solar energy on the air-conditioned train in Qinghai-Tibet Railway

To study the contribution of the solar energy resource to reducing energy consumption of air-conditioned train running along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the No. z6811 air-conditioned train of 25T was chosen as the research object and the intensity of the solar radiation on the outer surfaces of the train's enclosure was calculated. On the basis of the calculation of the solar radiant intensity, the top outer surface was chosen to be the reasonable position to install the solar panels because of its biggest solar radiant intensity and the longest radiating time and the working temperature, efficiency, power and electricity of the solar panels were calculated and analyzed respectively in winter and summer along the railway. The results show that in summer, the average efficiency of the solar cells of one-way train (Golmud to Lhasa) is 19.08%, the average power is 2.158 W and the total generated energy is 352.436 kWh. In winter, the average efficiency of the solar cells of one-way train (Golmud to Lhasa) is 21.18%, the average power is 1.435 W and the total generated energy is 224.782 kWh. The work in this paper provides an idea for the study of the integration between solar energy and the plateau train.