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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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SolaRoad Cycle Path Electricity Yield Exceeds Expectations
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Hacking's just another word for nothing left to kludge.
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 13 2015, @05:29PM
I'm with the "dumb idea" camp. Using the public right of way is a good idea, but driving on glass + some plastic coating just seems bound to fail. Wiring in-ground is another problem -- conduits underground usually fill with water, so the terminations are above ground...
What if the same solar cells were above the bike path, maybe an attractive looking "awning" that cantilevers from posts on one side of the path. Put the posts far enough off to the side so they are not a hazard for bumping into. Would allow the cells to be angled for best efficiency and also give some shade/precip protection to the path. The support structure could be similar to the large signs used on major highways -- strong enough to deal with wind loads on the big signs.
As noted elsewhere, the labor cost is always a big factor, this would allow normal paving companies to bid on the contract to make/maintain the path. The solar would be maintained by a separate crew with special training -- no need to train people with both sets of skills.
If something like this solar path/road was proposed in my area, I'd reference the cost numbers that someone posted above. Nice that the experiment has been done and now we know that it's a fail. No need to repeat the failure elsewhere...