As a smart solution to global shortage of resources, the Dutch have figured out a way to make the most from naturally available resources. The Solar Road, which is coincidentally the world's first, is a 230-foot stretch of solar bike path that is due to be officially opened in the suburbs beautiful Amsterdam. The path was reportedly built using square concrete modules that have been fitted with solar cells. About one centimeter thick layer of tempered glass has been fitted over the top of the cells.
The solar panels may sound delicate, but they are indeed strong enough to even bear the weight of a truck. The panels generate about 30% lesser energy than those that are generally seen atop buildings as these have been fixed in a particular angle to allow rain water to wash away the dust. The entire stretch has been incurred cost of about $3.74-million and has been dubbed as Sola Road. The project was headed by The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO). Reportedly the project is efficient enough to light about three homes with worry.
As of now, the researcher shall monitor the stretch for about three years and perform tests and take measurements of how the stretch has been performing over the test phase. With roughly about 2000 riders passing everyday it would be worthy to see how much the stretch is actually capable of generating.
