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SolaRoad Cycle Path Electricity Yield Exceeds Expectations

posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday May 13 2015, @01:49PM   Printer-friendly
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."

 
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  • (Score: 2) by richtopia on Wednesday May 13 2015, @04:44PM

    by richtopia (3160) on Wednesday May 13 2015, @04:44PM (#182457) Homepage Journal

    Perhaps you are looking at it backwards. Solar panels are a good place to put roads!

    By increasing the foundation required for the surface, this might be a more durable solution than current roads. Coming from Michigan I would be on board of solar roads if they meant no potholes.

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  • (Score: 2) by Covalent on Wednesday May 13 2015, @06:33PM

    by Covalent (43) on Wednesday May 13 2015, @06:33PM (#182529) Journal

    Hello Fellow Michiganian!

    How about building the solar panels OVER the roads or on the median. If you're a Detroit-area fellow like me, you know there are southward facing medians all over I-94, I-696, and I-96 that would be perfect for this. There is already a good size solar array just off of I-96 in Novi:

    http://archive.freep.com/article/20140310/NEWS06/303100020/dte-solar-panel [freep.com]

    But why not kill two birds with one stone: Cover sections of the freeway and put panels on top of the covers. Save the roads from the snow / salt / plowing and get solar power in the process.

    --
    You can't rationally argue somebody out of a position they didn't rationally get into.