What Happened?
New innovations in solar power technology are helping communities build out green bicycle infrastructure.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is home to the world’s first solar-powered bike path that converts sunlight into electricity. The SolaRoad project looks like a normal bike path, but the road surface is equipped with solar cells under tempered glass. The solar power generated from the cells could directed toward a variety of endpoints including:
- Street lighting
- Traffic systems
- Electric cars
- Households
The solar cells within the bike path will produce enough energy to power three homes. Officials working on the project explain the power generated from the path can support a growing number of electric vehicles on the road. The solar-project will cost an estimated $3.76 million when completed by 2016.
London
The city of London is considering a green initiative to also make biking even more environmentally friendly. The Thames Deckway is a $965 million floating track designed to help bicyclists better navigate the city to further reduce the use of personal cars. Each user would pay about $.188 per journey, which would help pay for maintenance costs over time.
The 136-mile Thames Deckway could accommodate 12,000 cyclists per hour and reduce travel times for bicyclists crossing the city 30 minutes. Bicyclists would pass by 200 access points and travel along the path that follows popular urban rail lines throughout the city. The deckway will float atop the Thames River, and rise and fall with the tides. Bicyclists would be able to receive data pertaining to:
- Traffic density and flow
- River conditions
- Weather reports
The tidal and wind energy collected from the river would then be used to power lights along the deck. The floating bike path would offer a more cost-effective alternative to building more roads in anticipation of a 12 percent jump in population size over the next 10 years, BBC reported.
Elsewhere in the Netherlands
The Dutch are further experimenting with innovative bike amenities by installing a glow-in-the-dark path inspired by Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night.” The bike path has blue and green illuminated stones embedded that collect solar energy during the daytime and glow at night. The green and blue stones mimic the swirling colors in Van Gogh’s famous painting while lighting the path for nighttime cyclists.
The glow-in-the-dark bike path is 0.37 miles in length and part of the Van Gogh Cycle Route that connects different locations throughout the Netherlands where the artist lived and worked.
Austria
Kristof Retezar has developed a new water bottle for bicyclists that is able to fill itself up with water. Known as Fontus, the bottle collects moisture from the air and condenses it into safe drinking water. The water bottle is equipped with solar cells that can accumulate about 0.5 liters of water every 60 minutes in moist climates.
The Fontus can be used recreationally, or perhaps on a larger scale to help communities gain access to fresh water.
Harvesting the Sun
Gov1 has reported on a variety of solar-powered projects that offer green solutions to reduce costs.