US Solar Road Gets Upgraded Technically

The Ray, the Georgia Department of Transportation, and worldwide infrastructure innovator Colas have unveiled an upgraded model of the Wattway solar highway on the Customer Information Center situated at Exit 1 on Interstate 85.

Colas invented the Wattway solar street in partnership with the French National Solar Energy Institute. These thin, heavy-responsibility photovoltaic panels are affixed onto the present roadway utilizing a patented surface texture that has been designed to supply as a lot of skid resistance as standard pavement. The Wattway expertise permits the street to multi-process: to each present a surface for protected vehicular site visitors, in addition to a brand new land alternative for producing clean, renewable power.

Wattway, on the part of I-85 known as The Ray, was initially put in in December 2016. The first year following set up, Wattway was the very best-renewable power-producing pilot venture of the 40-pilot initiatives worldwide, producing eight,420.74 kWh, which is sufficient power to drive a single electrical automobile roughly 35,000 miles. It stays the one public, a drivable solar highway in the USA.

“In coordination with the Georgia Department of Transportation, The Ray is a reducing-edge pioneer in experimenting with modern applied sciences that foster consumer security and sustainable improvement. Because of high-high quality companions like them, Smart Road options akin to Wattway can progress. We’re glad and proud to have The Ray and Georgia DOT amongst our companions,” mentioned Etienne Gaudin, Wattway Manager.

Since 2016, suggestions from The Ray’s I-85 take a look at the website and have helped Colas to enhance set up strategies, the electrical structure, and ideal the patented photovoltaic panel. Wattway has capitalized on this data and developed successive variations of photovoltaic panels, which can be extra resilient and climate resistant, more compact, and extra economical. As well as, efficiency has been improved by 21 %, reaching 144 Wp (Watt peak) / m².

“We broke the mold with model one in 2016,” mentioned Harriet Anderson Langford, founder, and president of The Ray. “I give a lot of credit score to Georgia DOT for working with us to allow one thing so groundbreaking. What we’ve executed in the present day is the plain subsequent step – innovation in actual-time. This new model is best due to The Ray, and we’re excited to see the way it performs over the following a number of years.”