Solar
panels embedded in the cycle path near Amsterdam could generate enough
electricity to power three houses, with potential to extend scheme to roads
 |
| SolaRoad in Krommenie, the Netherlands, will be the world’s first cycle path with embedded solar panels. Photograph: SolaRoad |
The bike
path that connects the Amsterdam suburbs of Krommenie and Wormerveer is popular
with both school children and commuters: around 2,000 cyclists ride its two
lanes on an average day.
But next
week Krommenie’s cycle path promises to become even more useful: on 12 November
a 70-metre stretch will become the world’s first public road with embedded
solar panels.
Costing
around €3m (£2.4m) and funded mostly by the local authority, the road is made
up of rows of crystalline silicon solar cells, encased within concrete and
covered with a translucent layer of tempered glass.
A
non-adhesive finish and a slight tilt are meant to help the rain wash off dirt
and thus keep the surface clean, guaranteeing maximum exposure to sunlight.
Since the
path cannot be adjusted to the position of the sun, the panels produce roughly
30% less energy than those fixed on to roofs. Nonetheless, when the path is
extended to 100 metres in 2016, its creators hope that it will produce enough
energy to power three households.
The
Netherlands’ TNO research institute, which developed the concept behind the
solar bicycle path, think the potential of their idea doesn’t stop there. Sten
de Wit of the institute told the Guardian that up to 20% of the Netherlands’
140,000km of road could potentially be adapted, helping to power anything from
traffic lights to electric cars. Tests have seen the solar panel units
successfully carry the weight of heavy vehicles such as tractors.
While
Krommenie will become the first community in the world with a publicly
accessible stretch of solar road, the idea of using existing road
infrastructure to harvest solar energy is gaining momentum across the globe.
Two US
engineers, Idaho couple Julie and Scott Brusaw, have been developing solar
panelling units for road use since 2006. In 2009, their company Solar Roadways
received a contract from America’s Federal Highway Administration to build a
prototype.
In March
this year, the Brusaws replaced their own parking lot with solar-panelled
units, and thanks to a popular viral video, they have raised $2.2m (£1.4m) to put their design into production.
If all the
roads in the US were converted to solar roadways, the Solar Roadways website claims, the country would generate three times as much energy as it currently
uses and cut greenhouse gases by 75%.
No comments:
Post a Comment