China soon to open its solar highway

After successfully manufacturing solar roofs, cars and windows, China is now all set to open up the country’s first solar highway that uses solar panels placed underneath the transparent concrete on roads to charge vehicles.

China’s 2km stretched solar highway is located on the Jinan City Expressway, which is divided into three layers. One layer is made up of see-through concrete that contains a range of solar panels of two sizes underneath it as the second layer. The third layer lies underneath the solar panels that keep the panels away from the damp ground.

The highway is expected to be durable enough to handle vehicles as large as a medium sized truck and also has a strong friction. Once the highway is entirely done, it would be connected to the power grid to provide electricity to the city, wrote Daily Mail.

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Constructed by the company Quilu Transportation Development Group, the highway road has almost been completed and it’s just about connecting the grids now that will be accomplished by this year’s end.

However, this road isn’t the first one being constructed in China. In early 2017, a 160m long solar was built in the city of Jinan. The current road is the first solar highway to be built. The solar highway, similar to the solar road, is supposed to be able to heat up in order to keep the highway clear of snow or ice and also to wirelessly charge electric vehicles along with digitally assisting automated vehicles some day, reported Electrik.

Apart from China, solar roads have been constructed in other parts of the world too. Netherlands constructed a bike path equipped with solar panels for generating electricity. France too, initiated a 1km long solar road last year. In US, the Missouri Department of Transportation also agreed upon testing solar sideways in a village.