Phys.org reports on a pilot project in the Netherlands to generate power from solar panels in a bike path that has so far exceeded expectations:
The first six months of the pilot phase were successful, according to a SolaRoad press release issued earlier this month. The energy yield was beyond their expectations. Spokesperson Sten de Wit said they were surprised to see the level of success so quickly. Case in point: "The bike road opened half a year ago and already generated over 3,000 kWh," he said. "If we translate this to an annual yield, we expect more than the 70 kWh per square meter per year, which we predicted as an upper limit in the laboratory stage. We can therefore conclude that it was a successful first half year."
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday May 13 2015, @05:44PM
You beat me to the punch with covered parking lots. Our local IKEA in Long Island has parking space covers, but they don't generate electricity, merely shade the spots. Electricity generated from the acreage of parking lots covered by solar cells would be substantial, and may even cut down on the heat island effect cities suffer. The same could be done for roads and railroads. Those add up to a lot of space, and, like you said, solar coverings would supply sun, rain, and snow protection. I'm actually considering doing that over our driveway to supplement what we can fit on our roof.
Washington DC delenda est.