Photovoltaics for freeways

• The Austrian Institute of Technology, Fraunhofer ISE, and Forster Industrietechnik are creating a brand-new rooftop PV system idea for freeways. They aim to harness the capacity of underexploited roadway networks to produce electrical power.

The Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), in collaboration with Germany's Fraunhofer ISE and also Forster Industrietechnik, has released the PV-SÜD pilot project to produce brand-new possibilities for solar power generation on roadway networks.

A number of projects in Germany, Austria and Switzerland have actually currently shown that photovoltaics can be used to provide electricity for remainder locations or to light passages. The PV SÜD project will originally service the development of a concept and also a pilot project for the implementation of PV rooftops on active freeways.

In addition to the dual use area, the researchers expect various other positive outcomes, consisting of the protection of roadway surfaces from precipitation and also overheating. They likewise intend to validate whether PV roofs would certainly give extra worth for roadways, as anticipated, while likewise evaluating the sensible, technological and financial expediency of such concepts.

The initial part of the project is to develop a PV roofing prototype, including the choice of components and sustain frameworks. The goal is to establish whether PV system can satisfy a variety of various demands, including water drainage, wind and also snow loads, stability and also impact resistance, upkeep possibilities, and also web traffic safety. Then the scientists will evaluate whether the system functions accurately.

" With the photovoltaic roof, the adhering to purposes in particular need to be achieved. First, the manufacturing of photovoltaic or pv power using appropriate PV component innovations," claimed Manfred Haider, a project supervisor at the AIT Center for Mobility Systems. "Second, the adaptable use the roadway network, as well as 3rd, boosting the life of the sidewalk by protecting it from overheating and precipitation. Fourthly, extra noise security."

The PV-SÜD project is funded using Germany's Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and also Technology (BMK), the Austrian Agency for the Promotion of Research (FFG), the German Federal Ministry of Transport, and Switzerland's Federal Roads Office. The knowledge got from the research study project will benefit the future use of photovoltaics in the road networks of all 3 countries.