From pv magazine Spain
Andalusia-based start-up Solum, which specializes in the development of smart and sustainable products for smart cities, has installed the first solar pavement in a port area in Valencia as part of a strategy set by Puertos del Estado, the Spanish state-owned company responsible for the management of the country's ports, for the complete decarbonization of port areas by 2030.
“The solar pavement concentrates an installed capacity of over 1 kW in just six square meters of surface and will feed a meteorological station,” a company spokesperson told pv magazine. It is expected to generate more than 1.9 MWh annually.
“To our knowledge, there are only two other companies in the world that manufacture solar pavements, but none of them do it based on a conventional module,” said Luis Muñoz, VP of Product & Innovation at Solum. “Most of the companies try to do a specific process with another technology. The problem is that this drives up costs and the efficiency is not that high. We decided to start with a conventional photovoltaic panel and add a series of materials to transform the module into a pavement.” These materials are already used in the photovoltaic industry and were applied to the project through a patented technology, he added.
Image: Solum
The Solum solar pavement is claimed to have the same efficiency as a monocrystalline module with dark Tedlar. This material is said to be twice as strong as concrete and the patented engineering applied to the solution is claimed to make it resistant to loads, impacts and scratches. It also does not require special maintenance, even less than a conventional floor due to its hydrophobic properties, according to the manufacturer.
Each panel has dimensions of 50 x 50 cm and 2.5 cm thick. “In addition, it is installed in a single day with only two workers, and does not require public works,” Muñoz said. Another solar pavement recently installed in Barcelona required six days to install.
The Valencia solar pavement is Solum's second project after carrying out their first one in Seville, which is intended to charge electric scooters. The company will soon install two other projects, one in Madrid, the other in the Netherlands.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
2 comments
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.