Solaroad installed on cycle path to power roundabout, France

French road-building company Charier has introduced the SolarRoad kit (SRK) on a newly-laid cycle path in Etampes, France, that uses two SRK elements to convert sunlight to electricity and provide lighting for a roundabout. The installation helps Charier meet sustainability objectives within the framework of the Paris Agreement.
October 16, 2017 Read time: 1 min
French road-building company Charier has introduced the SolarRoad kit (SRK) on a newly-laid cycle path in Etampes, France, that uses two SRK elements to convert sunlight to electricity and provide lighting for a roundabout. The installation helps Charier meet sustainability objectives within the framework of the Paris Agreement.


The SRK has four elements of 2.5 x 3.5 meters and delivers approximately 3,500 kwh per year, which according to Solaroad, is enough energy to power an average household for one year. The technology can be applied to a business park, courtyard, square, bike path or a footpath. It can provide energy for lighting, illuminating a shop window, heating, Wi-Fi access points or, as now in Groningen, a charging point for e-bikes or mobile phones.

Related Content

  • Sprawl spreads the costs and confines the benefits
    June 8, 2015
    A new report says car-centric planning leads to inefficient cities and divided communities as lead author Todd Litman explains. Between 1950 and 2050 the human population will have approximately quadrupled and shifted from 80% rural to nearly 80% urban; by the middle of this century the United Nations predicts an additional 2.2 billion urban residents in developing countries than there are today. How these cities grow has huge economic, social and environmental impacts and implementing proper policies can c
    Read More
  • Korea demonstrates the future of EV transport
    August 8, 2013
    The city of Gumi, South Korea is proving that solutions for future energy and transportation problems are happening now, with the online electric vehicle (OLEV), developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). OLEV is an electric vehicle that can be charged while stationary or driving, removing the need to stop at a charging station, nor does an OLEV tram require pantographs to feed power from electric wires strung above the tram route. OLEV receives power wirelessly through the
    Read More
  • Hikvision’s wind/solar solution offers ‘off grid’ vision
    August 20, 2019
    Getting vision tech to ‘off-grid’ areas is a challenge - but Hikvision has come up with an answer in China, while also handling some rather more conventional smart cities work in Germany
    Read More
  • Big wheels keep on turnin’
    August 21, 2018
    Many of the great and the good in the global mobility sector gathered at this year’s Movin’ On event in Montreal. Measured regulation of technologies and safety issues were major themes, reports David Arminas. *Bibendum is the original name for the Michelin Man, the symbol of the Michelin tyre company Autonomous vehicles, platooning, smart intersections and safety – these were the talking points over two-and-a-half days of the Movin’ On event in Montreal, Canada. Everyone in the mobility sector is at the
    Read More

Highlighted Content