[www.keralites.net] Coming, solar-panel roads across continents!

 

 

Coming, solar-panel roads across continents!   BLOOMBERG         These Can Withstand Weight Of An 18-Wheeler Truck; 2,800sqm Stretch Could Generate 280kW Power Electric avenues that can transmit the sun's energy onto power grids may be coming to a city near you. A subsidiary of Bouygues SA has designed rugged solar panels, capable of withstanding the weight of an 18-wheeler truck, that they're now building into road surfaces. After nearly five years of research and laboratory tests, they're constructing 100 outdoor test sites and plan to commercialise the technology in early 2018. "We wanted to find a se cond life for a road," said Philippe Harelle, the chief technology officer at Colas SA's Wattway unit, owned by the French engineering group Bouygues. "Solar farms use land that could otherwise be used for agriculture, while the roads are free." As solar costs plummet, panels are being increasingly integrated into everyday materials. Last month Tesla Motors Inc. surprised investors by unveiling roof shingles that double as solar panels.Other companies are integrating photovoltaics into building facades. Wattway joins groups including Sweden's Scania and Solar Roadways in the US seeking to integrate panels onto pavement. To resist the weight of traffic, Wattway layers several types of plastics to create a clear and durable casing. The solar panel underneath is an ordi nary model, similar to panels on rooftops. The electrical wiring is embedded in the road and the contraption is topped by an anti-slip surface made from crushed glass. A kilometre-sized testing site began construction last te began construction last month in the French village of Tourouvre in Normandy . The 2,800sqm of solar panels are expected to generate 280kw at peak, with the installation generating enough to power all the public lighting in a town of 5,000 for a year, according to the company . For now, the cost of the materials makes only demonstration projects sensible. A square meter of the solar road currently costs ¤2,000 ($2,126) and ¤2,500. That includes monitoring, data collection and installation costs. Wattway says it can make the price competitive with traditional solar farms by 2020. Wattway has also installed its panels to light billboards and is working on links to street lights. The next two sites will be in Calgary in Canada and in the US state of Georgia, with plans to build them in Africa, Japan and throughout the EU in the pipeline. "We need to test for all kinds of different traffic and climate conditions," Harelle said. "I want to find the limits of it. We think that maybe it will not be able to withstand a snow plow." The potential fragility joins cost as a potential hurdle.

 

 

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Posted by: Cool Kis <cooolkis@gmail.com>

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