US smart city Peachtree Corners, in Georgia, has unveiled a photovoltaic roadway system which produces energy for a solar-powered electric vehicle charging station located at city hall.
The solar roadway is located in a section of Technology Parkway’s autonomous vehicle test lane and was financed through a partnership with The Ray, a non-profit organisation focused on clean transport technologies in the state.
The new system at Peachtree Corners will produce more than 1.3 megawatt-hours of electricity annually for a Level 2 EV charger at city hall at no cost to EV motorists.
The charger is also equipped with an energy storage system for night-time charging.
The solar roadway uses Wattway panels, provided by French company Colas Group in partnership with the French National Solar Energy Institute.
The panels were engineered to be more durable and efficient resulting in a 21% performance increase over previously deployed panels.
“As further reinforcement of Peachtree Corners’ leadership in introducing and developing the latest technologies in a real-world environment, we’re excited to have been working with The Ray to install the country’s first road surface solar panels manufactured by Wattway, within our one-of-a-kind autonomous vehicle lane,” said Brandon Branham, chief technology officer and assistant city manager of Peachtree Corners.
He added: “While this new form of 100% green, renewable energy will begin with supplying power to an EV charging station, our vision is to begin to power more existing infrastructure across the city, off-grid.
“We look forward to installing more panels throughout, which may include sidewalks, bike lanes and many more surfaces.”