21-Dec-2017: China rolls out world’s first solar highway

China has opened the world’s first solar highway designed to generate energy as well as handle traffic. The 5,875 square metres of highway in Jinan runs for one kilometre, including two lanes and an emergency strip.

The ground-breaking  highway is made up of three layers: Transparent concrete on top, Photovoltaic solar panels in the middle and Insulation beneath. The highway, in the capital of the northeastern Shandong province, can handle 10 times more pressure than a normal asphalt road.

It can generate 1 million KWH of electricity in one year, used to power street lights and a road snow-melting system. The solar energy generated will also supply power to charging stations for electric vehicles if needed in the future.

While other counties like France and the Netherlands have solar roads, China claims to have the largest and most efficient stretch. This cements China’s position in 2016 as the world’s top solar energy producer. (Australia gained tenth place in the BP rankings that year.) France boasted the world’s first solar panel road in late 2016, but that only covered half the area of the Chinese version. While the Netherlands built a solar bike path in 2014.