A Dutch sustainability project is up and running...or rather biking! Just outside Amsterdam, a commuter bike path was opened up in November that has built-in solar panels. It’s being called SolaRoad and the power generated from the panels is going to be directed into the country’s energy grid.

Over the past six months, the 70-meter track has generated 3,000 kilowatt-hours, which is equivalent to powering a single-person household for an entire year.

These are great results for the first go at the SolaRoad because building this road was no easy feat. The pavement had to be durable yet translucent enough for sunlight to be absorbed. It needed a rideable, skid-free surface, while at the same time it had to be as dirt repellant as possible to allow the sun to break through the surface.

Solar-paneled roads are likely to absorb less power than roofs because they can’t be angled towards the sun. But with 20% of the Netherlands' 87,000 miles of road that could be potentially turned into SolaRoads, that gives a lot more space for panels than roofs.

This is such a big deal because solar roadways could be an effective path (pun intended) towards sustainability. Even if the technology is pricier at the beginning, after a certain number of years, the energy produced allows for the roads to pay for themselves.

Solar energy is an important movement to get behind because it cuts down the fossil fuels we currently have to burn in order to create energy. Those fossil fuels release dangerous greenhouse gases into the atmosphere when they’re burned, contributing heavily to the serious climate change crisis we’re facing.

So I’d say SolaRoad is the right way to go! (Once again, pun intended.)