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SolaRoad Cycle Path Electricity Yield Exceeds Expectations

posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday May 13 2015, @01:49PM   
from the the-future's-so-bright... dept.

CoolHand writes:

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."

• Proximity (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 14 2015, @02:05AM

  by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 14 2015, @02:05AM (#182759)

  farm this out to desert areas and pipe the power in

  To my mind, that's the opposite of a good idea.
  Having generation and consumption in the same place seems to be the plan here.

  My mantra: The future is renewable and distributed.

  residential homes

  Redundant, but yeah.
  I think rooftop solar is the future for most things; it even works at the extreme latitudes of Germany.

  .
  This deep in the Sun Belt, I cringe when I see cars parked in the afternoon Sun.
  I imagine people's bare thighs touching the vinyl upholstery.
  Parking lots with roofs covered in solar cells used to charge the vehicles below is my vision of the future.
  2 birds; 1 stone (not to mention shielding folks from the occasional rain).

  -- gewg_

  Parent