https://cleantechnica.com/2017/03/12/dutch-solar-bike-path-solaroad-successful-expanding/
[image, video and links in on-line article]
Dutch Solar Bike Path SolaRoad Successful & Expanding
March 12th, 2017
by Rogier van Rooij
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.