Bike paths: The Netherlands is covered
with them, connecting more or less every destination a person might wish
to go to and greatly increasing the convenience of cycling as a
sustainable mode of transport. In the densely populated country, where
space is scarce, a consortium of companies and research labs called
SolaRoad is endeavoring to make those cycle lanes reduce carbon
emissions in yet another way: by having them to generate solar
electricity.
In 2014, SolaRoad started
its pilot project in the town of Krommenie near Amsterdam by replacing a
stretch of 70 meters of a tarmac bike path with solar modules it
developed. The embedded solar panels are protected by a 1 cm thick
coating, which is highly transparent but does not compromise traction.
The project attracted great attention, both inside and outside the
Netherlands, and within the first year after the solar bike path opened,
300,000 cyclists and scooters rode over it.
Despite the difficulties paired with
embedding solar panels in a road, such as the flat angle in which the
modules are positioned, the thick layer of protection glass covering
them, and the high numbers of travellers passing over and blocking the
sun, the amount of power generated quickly defied expectations. Already
half a year after the cycle lane was inaugurated, SolaRoad sent out a
press release stating that, with 3000 kWh generated, the solar panels
were outperforming the 70 kWh annual per square meter expected threshold
set in the lab. In its first year, the SolaRoad produced 9,800 kWh,
roughly equivalent to the annual average consumption of three Dutch
households.
To accommodate for testing new modules
that incorporate innovations inspired by the first 70 meters of
SolaRoad, the project was expanded by 20 meters in October 2016. Some of
these modules contain thin-film photovoltaic panels. Furthermore, the
coating of the new modules has been improved.
The project near Amsterdam will continue
till 2018, with the goal of further development and testing of the
SolaRoad modules that convert the sun’s energy to electricity while
facilitating bike travel. SolaRoad has meanwhile launched the SolaRoad
Kit — 10 meters of solar bike path that can be ordered by companies or
governments. The province of Groningen in the northern part of the
Netherlands has already bought a kit, which will be in operation in a
month from now.
Another interesting development is the
announcement of a cooperation with Californian road authority Caltrans
and the Dutch province North-Holland to develop a second pilot project
in Lebec, Kern County. Since the announcement last March, however, no
details on what the project might look like have been revealed.
Although per kWh cost figures are
unknown, it is very likely that the electricity produced by the SolaRoad
is relatively expensive, especially due to the small scale and novelty
of the project. Surely, it cannot compete with normal solar power
generation, such as from rooftop solar and solar farms, but the point is
that such solar bike paths compete with the cost (and no direct
revenue) of conventional bike paths, not other solar installations. As
research continuous and enthusiasm coming from many different sides
accrues, larger-scale projects could emerge, and we could get a better
sense of how viable this idea is. Economies of scale would drive down
costs, and suddenly, solar bike paths could no longer be a
curiosity. Maybe.
To reiterate: the SolaRoad does not have
to reach cost parity with rooftop or utility-scale solar, but the more
solar electricity we can generate via cost-competitive means versus the
alternative, the better. If we were to travel a decade or so into the
future, most available rooftop space might already be covered. So, to
further increase solar generation capacity at that time, either land
reserved for agriculture or nature would have to be used, or surfaces
such as bike paths could be considered.
In densely populated countries such as
the Netherlands, geographers are already warning about the burden
large-scale solar power plants could place on land available to other
uses. Converting gray tarmac into solar highways would be a logical
alternative, provided the cost difference is limited or positive.
SolaRoad is not the only consortium in
the world working on this type of project. In the US, Solar Roadways is
working on high-tech roads that produce electricity and can, among other
things, de-ice themselves. Unfortunately, their prototype in Idaho has
suffered from severe technical issues, recently even requiring intervention by firefighters as smoke started to come out of an electricity box on the test site.
Another example is located in France,
where a one-kilometer stretch of roadway has been covered by solar
panels by construction company Colas. This “Wattway” is the start of a
controversial plan to convert a staggering 1,000 kilometers of French
streets into solar roads.
Electricity-generating roads haven’t
left the experimental phase yet, and are very probably not
cost-competitive with conventional roadways at this point. But as the
rate of innovation is high, and public enthusiasm big, we shouldn’t be
surprised to see more SolaRoads in the coming years, possibly of much
larger scales than now deemed feasible.
source: https://cleantechnica.com
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