Electrifiy Caltrain on Solar PV

I live a block from the Caltrain line in overcast Belmont. From solar PV I average 3.2 MW per year from 20 panels which equal 250 sq feet and generate 15% surplus power per year. However I face southeast. Similar sized south facing and southwest facing installations generate 4-5MW per year. 4MW is what one electric Caltrain needs per day. That would translate to square footage of panels equal to 250x365 sq ft= 92,250 or round it up to 100,000 sq feet which an area 100'by 1,000' ft. Most station areas are a mile in length which would be five this amount or 20MW per day. If the station area solarized was 200 feet wide then only ten stations would need to be solarized for the entire train at 40MW per day from 40,000 panels.

From the EIR/EIS the accurate power requirements to operate a 100 train per day Caltrain system is approx. 300 MWh PER DAY. A full build out scenario of more trains per day would require 400 MWh per day. That would imply 20 stations areas covered in solar panels. Or some equivalent length of track could be solarized. Given the sunny location of most trains this facilities are more likely to produce about 40% more power. This can be used to provide hybrid and golf cart charging stations at the park and ride and to power homes such as the San Carlos Transit Village with 370 rental units.

Sierra Nevada Beer put in a nice shaded solar parking lot.
http://www.gizmag.com/solar-powered-beer-sierra-nevada/8671/