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https://reasonstobecheerful.world/striding-into-the-future-on-solar-powered-sidewalks/>
"Kamloops, British Columbia, is a radiant place, receiving over 3,100 hours of
sunshine a year. So it’s no wonder that in 2016, Thompson Rivers University
(TRU) decided to harness all that luminescence and convert it to electricity.
If the university’s solar array had been installed on a roof or mounted above
ground in a corner of a soccer field, that probably would have been the end of
the story. Instead, TRU didn’t follow trends — it set one: It became the first
place in Canada to embed solar panels into the ground. By 2017, a 12-meter
walkway with 16 solar modules near the campus daycare, together with a compass
(sunburst) design of 62 modules in front of the arts and education building,
were producing power. By its second summer of operation, the compass produced
enough electricity to power an entire classroom of computers at TRU’s arts and
education building for the day.
For Amie Schellenberg, an electrical instructor at TRU and part of the team
that spearheaded the sidewalks, ground-mounted solar arrays just make sense.
“Why wouldn’t we use the space we already have?” she asks. “We don’t need to
create new space, or repurpose anything. We don’t need to plow fields or redo
rooftops — the ground is there.” Historically, solar panels have been mounted
above ground, typically on roofs or in gigantic solar parks. But wide-open
spaces and sunlit rooftops aren’t always an option in cities.
“It’s hard to integrate traditional rooftop solar into urban centers,” says
Gilbert Michaud, chair of the American Solar Energy Society’s policy division.
“Buildings shade each other and condo buildings may have restricted HOA
policies. It makes it really hard for people in urban environments to install
solar, even though population centers have a demand for cool energy and want to
see it.”
This is where in-ground solar shines. In 2021, the city of Barcelona installed
Spain’s first photovoltaic (PV) pavement as part of the city’s goal to become
climate neutral by 2030. In the Netherlands, an embedded 400-meter solar
sidewalk in front of Groningen Town Hall is powering the building as part of
that city’s ambition of becoming CO₂ neutral by 2035. The project is part of
the European Union’s Making City project, which aims to develop positive energy
districts (PEDs) that demonstrate innovative solutions to tackle
climate-neutral goals. The 400-square-meter installation is projected to offset
approximately 18 tons of CO₂ annually. “It is an example of how to use space in
the city in a smart and sustainable way,” Philip Broeksma, councilor of energy
from the Municipality of Groningen said when the sidewalks were revealed in
2023.
With places around the world looking to produce more solar energy, the question
is: Can in-ground solar be scaled to meet demand?"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
