A stretch of the Chinese solar road
The idea of solar roads has been dismissed by many as being impractical. But that didn’t stop China from opening one for testing today, joining the ranks of France, Holland, and other countries giving it a shot.
In Jinan, the capital of the northeastern Shandong province, traffic is now rolling over a stretch of expressway that’s also generating electricity from the sun, according to state-run CCTV (link in Chinese). Extending for 1 km (0.6 miles), the stretch is made of three layers: transparent concrete on the top, photovoltaic panels in the middle, and insulation on the bottom. The area covered comes out to 5,875 square meters (63,200 sq ft).
China is billing the project as the world’s first photovoltaic highway. In late 2016, a village in France opened what it claimed was the world’s first solar-panel road, running for about the same length as China’s new stretch though covering about half the area. In 2014, the Netherlands built a bike path embedded with solar panels.
The Jinan stretch includes two lanes and an emergency […]
Great idea to generate electricity from the road surfaces. We should also use solar power to purify water.
I like the idea, but never had high hopes for solar roads. Questions should be asked what materials are involved and what are the costs. Concrete is one of the most environmentally unfriendly building materials in the world. Is this transparent concrete more environmentally friendly? We get no details or analysis. Currently we are expending enormous public resources building roads and highways with horrible oil based pavement or concrete that does not last very long before repair or replacement must occur. So, if it can be shown that the durability and environmental impact are superior to tar or conventional concrete based roads – I think a case can be made that additional cost can be justified. With an offset added for value of the energy production…then this may become the way to go until we have the technology for transport that no longer requires cars.
The price does not seem that bad and looks like a great idea if it lasts as long as a concrete road, and could be put to use for many good tasks.