The Germans have found a way to use their highways and federal roads to generate electricity. The foundation Altes Neuland Frankfurt is the author of the project to build photovoltaic farms along the roads. The idea is brilliant in its simplicity, because this land is already a social property, so the problem of land acquisition and integration is eliminated. The whole technology is already practically developed, so you can basically start implementing it immediately. It is estimated that in this way more than 200 TWh of electricity could be generated per year
As we can read on the foundation's website:
Compared to other concepts along the highways, the Energy Bands have several design advantages:
•They are not near the ground and get dusty so easily
•They have simple statics and do not require irrigation, snow load constructions, lighting concepts, etc.
•The PV modules are mounted at the optimum angle to the sun and not vertically mounted as the facade PV installation leading to high energy yield.
•They could be integerated with small wind turbines in case of high wind potential.
