Shading and generating electricity, the Swiss canton of Friborg plans to lay solar panels above the road

In the hot summer, the road is scorched by the sun, cars are driving on it, and the roof of the car is also heated by the sun. The air conditioner must be turned up in the car, otherwise it will become an oven. Since ancient times, street trees have been planted on many roads around the world to provide shade. Many people have thought about why not add shade to the roads, especially in this age of green energy. Instead, they could simply put solar panels over the roads to provide shade and generate electricity. , kill two birds with one stone. The Swiss canton of Friborg is planning to put this idea into practice.

The idea of covering roads with solar panels for shading has been considered by many countries, but so far only a few small-scale test plans have been carried out, including Germany's cooperation with Switzerland and Austria to test the construction of a small section of solar panels on the A81 highway. The battery panel is shaded and the prototype tested only has a power generation capacity of 33 kilowatts.

The scale planned by the state of Friborg is much larger. It plans to build cross-shade panels on the H189 highway from the embankments on both sides of the road. The total shade area will reach 89,000 square meters, covered with solar cells, with a total power generation capacity Up to 14 million watts.

This plan is part of the Friborg State Solar Strategy, which was published in August 2023 and aims to generate 600 million kilowatt-hours of solar power in the state by 2035 and 1.3 billion kilowatt-hours of solar power by 2050. Among them, the priority is to integrate solar power generation on top of buildings and infrastructure facilities, followed by the construction of solar energy in open areas with less environmental impact. The Swiss government is conducting a feasibility assessment of the plan, followed by financial planning. If all goes well, the world will learn from Switzerland's experience whether laying solar panels over roads is a good idea.

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