Expansion of a Trolleybus Infrastructure towards a 100% Renewable Energy Usage

The german government furthers a research project targeting the full electrification of the largest trolleybus network in Germany in prospect of deriving a pilot scheme for major cities. Based on the good interim results, another near future aim arised: operation of the trolleybus network with 100% renewable energy. To achieve this, the large-scale integration of photovoltaic arrays in combination with second life bus batteries into the network is planned. This paper presents the actual status of the research project and the already closed steps towards the aim. It presents measurement results of the developed hardware from the laboratory and the last adaptations for field testing. Overall the measurements show a high efficient integration of photovoltaics and batteries which leads to a positive prediction regarding the aim with an integration and interaction in large-scale.

Automated summary

The German government is conducting a research project aimed at fully electrifying its largest trolleybus network and planning to operate it with 100% renewable energy. To achieve this goal, they plan to integrate photovoltaic arrays and second-life bus batteries into the network.