---
title: "Chile’s Getting The World’s First Subway Powered Mostly By The Sun"
description: "After giving away free electricity, Chile is now planning to power Santiago Metro subway system with renewable energy."
date: "2016-06-09"
modified: "2016-06-13"
authors:
  - name: "Charmaine Caparas"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/charmaine"
url: "https://futurism.com/chiles-next-move-is-to-power-its-subway-with-renewable-energy"
categories:
  - "Energy"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "Chile"
  - "renewable energy"
  - "south america"
  - "subway"
---

# Chile’s Getting The World’s First Subway Powered Mostly By The Sun

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/A-Gavin-Hellier-Getty-Images.jpg>)

Looks like Chile has struck gold! Electromagnetic radiation gold to be precise! [Chile](<https://futurism.com/chile-is-producing-so-much-solar-energy-theyre-giving-it-away-for-free>) has made headlines recently because their northern grid solar plants generated so much electricity that the price went down to zero.

Now, this Latin American country is at it again with its plans of powering Santiago Metro, the city’s subway system, through [renewable energy](<http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/index/tech.html>).

![China\_20MW\_Golmud\_solar\_photovoltaic\_power\_Plant\_Image\_Astronergy](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/China_20MW_Golmud_solar_photovoltaic_power_Plant_Image_Astronergy.jpg>)
*Image by Alliant Energy*

The metro will generate power directly from a 100-megawatt solar plant on the edge of the Atacama Desert, about 643 Kilometers (400 miles) away from Santiago. This will power 60 percent of the energy needed to move the system's 2.5 million daily passengers. Wind energy is also on the docket, to fill in another 18 percent of the necessary power.

The [solar plant](<http://newsroom.sunpower.com/2016-05-23-The-Worlds-First-Metro-to-Run-on-Solar-Energy-Powered-by-Total-and-SunPower>) will use low-cost modular panels that cut down on setup and maintenance time. Alongside this, there will also be specially designed robots to keep the panels clean and running efficiently as the Atacama Desert can get quite dusty,