Page 19 - Construction Vision Sep-Oct 2017 issue

W hat Are Solar Furthermore, if LEDS is used to paint the road was possible thanks to funding of 3.5 million
euros ($3.8 million), with 1.5 million euros
lines, lighting the road at night would be
Roadways?
coming from the province of Noord-Holland
achievable. In cities across the world cycling is
becoming an increasingly popular mode of and the rest from the consortium's other
The solar roadway is a road; a series of solar
transport. In the Netherlands, a country partners.
panels, structurally engineer to be driven upon.
synonymous with two wheeled transport, one According to SolaRoad, a translucent layer of
It is a revolutionary way of finding solutions to
innovative project is looking to convert cycle tempered glass – roughly one centimeter thick
the petroleum based asphalt roads, and the
paths – and roads – into clean energy – sits on top of the slab, with "crystalline silicon
use of fossil fuels to generate electricity. The
generators. solar cells" below the glass. SolaRoad says
objective of the solar roadways is to be able to
that the top layer has also been designed to be
tap and store as much energy as possible to The SolaRoad is made from pre-fabricated dirt repellent, skid resistant and strong.
be used in homes and commercial places. In concrete slabs, 2.5 by 3.5 meters in size. The At the beginning of November, SolaRoad
the heart of this project are the solar panels idea is that radiant heat and light will be announced that a cycle path in the Dutch town
that collect this solar energy. One advantage of captured through these solar panels rather of Krommenie – designed as a pilot
this project is that it is will enable the world cut than any energy made via the actual cycling. demonstration of the concept – had generated
down on greenhouse emissions by half. The project has been developed by a 9,800 kilowatt hours of energy in one year,
consortium comprising Dutch research institute enough to supply three homes with electricity.
This solar project is very much viable and it is
TNO, the Province of Noord-Holland, road Commenting on the results from the pilot
believed that one it has been adopted
construction firm Ooms Civiel and technical programme, de Wit said they slightly exceeded
worldwide it will be able to pay for the costs of
solutions provider Imtech. "The idea we started the team's upper expectations. The project's
the panel, creating a solar road that over time
with was 'wouldn't it be fantastic if we could plans are ambitious, and extend much further
will pay for itself. Some of the beneficial factors
harvest the solar energy that hits our road than the borders of the Netherlands. In March
of this type of road are that it may be possible
network, convert it to electricity and then of this year, the California Energy Commission
to customize it depending on the region. For
perhaps even power the cars that drive over announced that it had signed an agreement
example, it can be added with a heating
the roads?'," Sten de Wit, spokesman for the with the Province of Noord-Holland to swap
system, especially in countries that experience
SolaRoad consortium, told CNBC in a phone information and "collaborate on innovative
snow or ice and this will work to heat the
interview. De Wit explained that the project transportation energy projects."
surface to prevent the accumulation of snow.

SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER CONSTRUCTION VISION 17