Students develop solar train as rail transport falters

As trains ground to a halt in South Africa due to loadshedding and cable theft, forcing rail commuters to rely on taxis, students from Soshanguve Technical High School decided to come up with a solution and developed a solar powered train locomotive. It has photovoltaic panels fitted to the roof, moves along an 18-metre test track and can reach speeds of up to 30km an hour. Acting principal of the school, Tladi Mashiane, told BizNews the University of Pretoria had offered to help the school with its innovation drive, while pupils Ronnie Masindi, Princess Nkwana and Lethabo Nkadimeng that we spoke to were surprised by the huge amount of publicity their experiment attracted. The pupils were invited to display their solar train at the Sasol Innovation Expo. – Linda van Tilburg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices