The Barcelona municipal authorities have chosen Plaça de Les Glòries Catalanes, a historical square, as the future site of a 50-square-meter demonstration project to test the feasibility of solar pavement. Spain's Sorigué and Hungary-based Platio Solar developed the winning technology.
The pilot project will be used to assess the potential of solar paving materials. The 340 mm x 340 mm x 61 mm solar panels feature electrical wiring and are covered with a highly resistant, non-slip glass. The modules function as normal urban paving stones that can be walked on. However, they have a combined power capacity of 9 kW.
In this first pilot test, the pavement will power a public bicycle rental service in Barcelona, in order to monitor the energy that is generated in real time. The developers expect to generate 7,560 kWh of electricity per year, which is equivalent to the total energy consumption of three households. A municipal commission will evaluate the results for a period of six months to determine the potential of installing the tech in other parts of the city.
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Another country wasting money on solar pavement. The cells are oriented the wrong way, the pedestrians will wear the cells, among other problems. But EEVblog covers it better than me – https://youtu.be/RIiiGReUZ3A
There are many detractors on using Solar Pavements as such and I can see where that can be problematic depending on the Region (climate zone) and particular applications. Therefore such tech is provisional to these factors.
Spain is a nice sunny and non-snowy Nation so it makes more sense here than say in Whitehorse NWT or Nome Alaska. The world is a Huge Place and while some tech may not be practical in some places, it may be far more practical in others.
While I do not see such being used on Roadways, it does however make far more sense in public squares (pedestrian) and large open areas which are usually paved/cobbled or tiled. Even sidewalks in theory could make use of such which could power Street Lights, EV Chargers and more ancillary uses as well.
7,560 kwh/yr powers 3 households for a year? That’s only 210 kwh/mo for each household.