World’s First Solar Road Installed and Ready for Public Use

Here’s a topic that’s gotten a fair amount of play over the years: solar (PV) roads.  Finally, the first such thoroughfare is open to the public—in the Netherlands: land of tulips, windmills, and yes, if you get far enough off the beaten track over there, you will find people wearing wooden shoes.

As I’ve mentioned before, I can’t imagine that this represents a cost-effective way to lay down PV.  Even the number one thing to like here, i.e., land use, isn’t really the bonanza that it seems, due to shadows.  A shadow the size of a pack of matches on a 15-square-foot panel will knock over one-third of its power out.

I have a feeling this is of symbolic value only.