A total of 150 metres of solar road surface was recently put into service at two locations in the provinces of North and South Holland. With these two road sections, SolaRoad is taking an important step towards large-scale application of this innovative product in which solar panels are integrated into the road surface. This is the first time that electricity will be generated by our road network on such a scale in the Netherlands.
The SolaRoad project was realised in collaboration with TNO and construction company Strukton Civiel. TNO will monitor the performance and energy yields of the solar panels for three years. The strips of solar road surface have been laid on the parallel road along the N232 in Haarlemmermeer (North Holland) and on the bus lane along the N218 near Spijkenisse (South Holland). The technology used by SolaRoad for this purpose has been successfully tested over the past four years on 90 metres of cycle lane near Krommenie and has now been developed to the point where it can now be applied to the carriageway. TNO equipped both strips of solar road surface with an advanced monitoring system that measures the yield of the solar panels, the temperature curve and the light output.
The idea for SolaRoad originated at TNO in 2009. TNO is a partner in the core consortium developing SolaRoad alongside the province of North Holland, South Holland, road builder Ooms Civiel and technical service provider Dynniq. Paul de Krom, Chairman of the Board of Management of TNO: "This project is a great example of how TNO develops, applies and scales up knowledge and innovations, in close cooperation with partners from government and industry. With its participation in SolaRoad, TNO is making a significant contribution to the energy transition by incorporating innovative technology and contributing to a sustainable and safe infrastructure."
The expected electricity yield per 100 metres of solar road surface is now around 30,000 kWh per year. That energy can be used for road lighting, traffic systems, electric cars and households, for example. In the future, if a third of the total Dutch road network (140,000 km) would consist of solar road surface, all 9 million cars could be powered from SolaRoad.
Sten de Wit, commercial director of SolaRoad BV, says in a press release: "The opening of these two strips of solar road surface means a breakthrough in the field of sustainable energy supply. Especially if the road concept develops into a system that transports the generated electricity to the vehicles driving along the road. Imagine, energy is then generated where it is needed. Then a big step towards an energy-neutral mobility system becomes possible."
Source: TNO
