The photovoltaic pavement (at left). — All images by Qilu Transportation Development Group
BEIJING: Wireless charging of electric cars will take on a new dimension with China opening the its first solar-powered highway.
The one-kilometre-long stretch in Shandong province can generate 10 million kWh of electricity per year and will be used to power highway lights, signboards, surveillance cameras, tunnel, and toll gate facilities. Excess power generated will be supplied to the state grid, according to a XinhuaNet report.
Wireless charging of electric cars, however, will come at a later stage. Chinese authorities also believe the photovoltaic pavement open it up to other uses such as melting snow on the road surface, offering Internet access as well as allowing access to information collecting devices via road ports.
The special two-lane road is made up of three layers - an insulating bottom layer, photovoltaic panels in the middle and a transparent concrete on the top to allow sunlight to pass through to the solar panels.
Motorists interviewed by state-owned CCTV+ said there was little difference driving on the road and the braking distance was similar to that on a conventional road.
Qilu Transportation Development Group, which built the road, said the solar panels spans 5,874 square metres and come with a total installed capacity of 800 kilowatts.
Project designer Zhang Hongchao was quoted by Chinese media as saying the road cost about US$458 (RM1,843) per square metre, 90 times the cost of a traditional asphalt road. This works out to about US$2.7mil (RM11mil). Zhang said the road can handle 10 times more pressure than normal asphalt roads.
Qilu said the road is designed to last 20 years and costs could drop with further solar power development in China.
France built the world's first solar-powered road in December 2016 but on a smaller scale with a single lane stretching one-km long. The road in the Normandy village of Tourouvre-au-Perche is undergoing a two-year testing period where about 2,000 motorists are expected to use it daily. The road cost 5 million euros (RM24.2mil) to build.
China is the world's largest producer of solar energy. It has over 130GW (Gigawatt) energy capacity, followed by the United States (85GW) and Japan (63GW). It is moving forward with plans to replace conventional vehicles with electric vehicles as one of the steps to combat massive pollution in urban areas.
