Green Energy

This one makes a lot of sense though. You have a built in way to clean the panels through the trains, the panels are protected by the rails, and theoretically nothing should be putting weight on them (in practice the weight of a human or maybe a cow - at most)

Plus railroads last a very long time. Basically until we rip them up

We don't need a solution to transition away from fossil fuels, we need lots of solutions. We really should be putting up solar panels anywhere and everywhere they will survive for at least a few years. Even if it's 70% as productive as a properly angled panel, so what? We don't need to min max here

We need production ramped up and capacity online as fast as possible. If solar railways become a new source of demand, that means more investment in both