Harvesting Roadway Solar Energy—Performance of the Installed Infrastructure Integrated PV Bike Path

Abstract

Solar road technology provides an opportunity to harvest the vast, albeit dispersed, photovoltaic (PV) energy, while maximizing the land utilization. Deriving experience from the pioneering 70-m solar bike path installed in the Netherlands, this paper highlights the operational challenges and performance parameters using the first-year measured data. The theoretically predicted energy yield is compared with the measured energy yield. Based on the best performing module, the benchmark annual energy yield is set to 85–90 kWh/m $^2$ specific to the installation site. It is shown that this value can be bettered by about 1.5 times if different cell technology such as monocrystalline is used. With different installation sites around the world, thermal behavior as well as annual energy yield changes. Theoretical proof is offered that it is not unreasonable to expect an annual energy yield in the upwards of 150 kWh/m $^2$ with solar road energy harvesting technology. For example, the annual yield is found to be 213 kWh/m $^2$ if the same model is simulated for a solar road PV installation in India, which increased further with the use of monocrystalline to almost 300 kWh/m $^2$ .