Amazing: Solar road set up in Netherlands

A Dutch bike path designed to produce solar energy produces more energy than expected in its first six months.

SolaRoad generated more than 3,000 hours of kilowatt hours of electricity from the band of 70 meters long was officially opened in November 2014, in Krommenie, a village northwest of Amsterdam, the project announced last week. He said that was enough to feed a household of one person for one year.

“We did not expect such a high and fast performance,” Sten de Wit, a spokesman for the project of public-private partnership, in a statement that it considers the first half of a pilot project three years, a success said.

Based on what has occurred to date, it is expected to bike to generate more than 70 kilowatt hours per square meter per year, close to the upper limit predicted based on laboratory tests.

SolaRoad is made of concrete slabs with embedded common solar panels. Solar panels are protected by a layer one centimeter thick, clear tempered glass that can withstand bicycles and vehicles skid safety.

SolaRoad
SolaRoad is made of concrete slabs with embedded common solar panels. Solar panels are protected by a layer one centimeter thick, clear tempered glass that can withstand bicycles and vehicles skid safety. (SolaRoad)

The three-year pilot, € 3.5 million (CDN $ 4.7 million) project is a public-private partnership between the Dutch province of North Holland and engineering companies TNO, Ooms Civiel and Imtech.

The test is designed to ensure that the surface is as sliding as asphalt and causes annoying reflections, and test the performance of materials under realistic conditions.

So far, over 150,000 cyclists zip by the solar generator from the bike path. SolaRoad said “barely noticeable, is a special way.”

Tests have shown that large fluctuations in temperature cause the glass coating to shrink, resulting in a portion of it to peel off in early winter and early spring. The coating has been repaired, and engineers are in the “advanced” Development of an upper layer improved.

The project aims to test the technology SolaRoad in smaller municipal roads next.