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China’s Electric Road: Photo-voltaic Highway In Jinan Termed “Success”
The ‘photovoltaic highway’ in Jinan (Visual China Group/Getty Images)
While roads with solar panels have existed for a while now, China has gone one step further to enable wireless charging of vehicles using the road.
According to Xinhua News Agency, China successfully tested its first "photovaltaic highway" based on indigenous technology, in the country's eastern Shandong province yesterday (28 December).
The road is built using solar panels with a thin sheet of clear concrete above them, acting as a protective surface. The panels will facilitate electricity transfer to compatible electric vehicles driving on the stretch.
The 1 km segment of the highway has a total surface area of 5,875 square metres. It comprises of three layers: The bottom acts an insulator to prevent moisture from damaging the photovoltaic cells in the middle layer while the top layer the protective concrete layer.
The tested segment can generate up to 817.2 kilowatts of power and is expected to generate a million units of electricity each year which will then be connected to China's national power grid.
The first photovoltaic highway was opened up in France in 2016.
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