In November 2014, The Netherlands released the world’s first solar bike path as an experiment to test the potential for generating solar energy on roads, street lights and traffic lights in the future. It is 70 metres long, connects the suburbs of Krommenie and Wormerveer and expects 2,000 cyclists to use it on an average day, featuring a non-slip surface produced from multiple layers of glass, silicon rubber and concrete. The embedded solar cells generate electricity by capturing the sun’s energy and directing it to the grid.
A solar bike path from The Netherlands
The Netherlands has more than 140,000km of road and 25,000km of bike paths, a much larger potential solar generating area than all the available rooftops in the country. This experimental bike path can support 12 metric tonnes, more than enough for the average car, although not yet suitable for heavy vehicles such as buses and trucks.
The SolaRoad project cost US$3.7m (AU$4.3m), funded by local government.
After six months of operations, reports indicate that 3,000 kilowatt hours of energy were produced, enough to provide a single person household with electricity for a year. The bike path can’t be oriented to maximise the sunlight from the south, and therefore produces only 30% of the solar power that angled roof panels can generate. The team behind the path hopse to generate more power with its extension to 100 metres by 2016.
A US company is also trialling a similar experiment after raising US$2m on Indiegogo to create a solar roadway. Here’s a video about that project:
Solar cycle paths in The Netherlands
The UK’s Guardian reported that, “If all the roads in the U.S. 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 per cent.”
Sten de Wit, the spokesman for SolaRoad, said that for the first six months they “did not expect a yield as high as this so quickly.”
A very positive step in solar energy production from a forward-thinking country. Let’s hope the similar solar road plans from the US yield similarly positive results.
