World’s First ‘Solar Road’ Is Generating Even More Power Than Expected

Source: mic

Once again, The Netherlands has made headlines by generating more power than expected from world’s first solar road-an energy harvesting bike path paved with glass- coated solar panels. In November 2014, they built a 70-metre test track along a bike path near the Dutch Town of Krommenie on the outskirts of Amsterdam. In the first six months, the panels beneath the Solar road generated over 3000 Kilowatt hours of power which is enough to provide a single-person household with electricity for a year. Based on what is has produced so far, the bike path expected to generate more than the 70 kilowatt-hours per square metre per year. The solar cells are sandwiched between layers of glass, silicon rubber and concrete. The test is designed to ensure that the surface is just as skid-resistant as asphalt and doesn’t cause any distracting reflections. So far, more than 1,50,000 cyclists have zipped over the solar generating path of bike path. The research group spent the last five years developing the technology and now they are in talks with local councils in the Netherlands to see if the technology can be rolled out in others provinces. Moreover, this sustainable project is a good step towards cutting down the fossil fuels we currently have to burn in order to create energy. These fossil fuels release dangerous greenhouse gases when they are burnt and hence possess a great threat to our environment. This environment-friendly solar road is paving a sustainable future to the Netherlands.

The logical Indian applauds such an initiative and urges other nations to think upon it so that we can mitigate the serious climatic changes occurring due to heavy emission of greenhouse gases while producing electricity by fossil fuels.