Solar energy is cost efficient and sustainable. It can help to reduce impact on other resources. Few startups came out with an idea to build solar roadways.

Germany based startup SOLMOVE is a new startup which focuses on installing photovoltaic cells in pathways. It provides road blocks that can generate electricity. A similar startup Solar Roadways has raised upto 1.38 million dollars through crowd funding last year. Until now the planning and implementation of the project is efficient to experiment only on light travelled pathways. As regular roads and highways take too much of a severe beating from heavy transports.

Solmove founder Donald Müller-Judex stated that Germany is a small place compared to U.S. He found more scope to implement his ideas in U.S. For now he will focus on roads of Germany. Solmove has developed its flexible glass pathway for non-automotive use and is focusing entirely on the planned implementation.

Similar to this, Netherlands was the 1st Country to open Solar Road for Public use. France announced a bolder move stating that in next 5 years it plans to install 1000 kilometer of solar roads. This will help in development as well as supply power to five million people. We expect a few startups to come with some innovation to implement such technology in India also.

Two factors to consider:

• Cost challenges
• Manufacturing

Solar system setup has high maintenance cost today. New innovations and technology is helping out inventors / innovators to build up a product that is low on cost plus has more sustainable life cycle. In coming time we will be covering a lot of products that harness solar energy.

Takeaways:

• SOLMOVE Startup focuses on installing photovoltaic cells in pathways for generating electricity.
• Solar Roadways another startup aim’s in building up light emitting roadways for safer travel.