SolaRoad results are much better than expected

The first power producing road in history, dubbed ‘SolaRoad’ developed by TNO in Noord, Holland, has produced more power than expected. Steven Sten de Wit, a spokesperson for SolaRoad commented – “We did not expect a yield as high as this so quickly” – “The bike road opened a year and a half ago and is already generating 3000 kwh, this can power a single household for a year or is enough power to drive an electric scooter around the world two and a half times”. Steven went on to say “If we translate this in to an annual yield, we can expect more than 70,000 kWh per square meter per year, which was predicted to be the upper limit in laboratory stages”.

SolaRoad is in a 3 year pilot phase while measurements are taken to further development of the project. A goal of the test in Krommenie is to diagnose and fix teething issues early on from temperature changes and shrinkage. Since opening in November of 2014 SolaRoad has seen over 150,000 cyclists who have hardly noticed they’re biking along anything more than a normal road. TNO considers that an indicator of acceptance and a success. Other provences in Holland as well as now California have signed on for pilot tests.

SolaRoad itself is made up of about 70 meters of concrete modules 2.5 to 3.5 meters in size. Solar cells are covered by a transparent and skid resistant coating. The power produced is fed in to the grid for consumption. The road is made up to two paths, one for power and one for testing various coatings.