Students Install the World’s First Solar Pavement Panels in Virginia

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Studio39 Landscape Architecture just teamed up with students at the Solar Institute at George Washington University to install the world’s first solar panel walking path! The students and designers installed a total of 27 durable photovoltaic panels to create a street level Solar Walk that generates roughly 400 watt-peaks of electricity.

Onyx Solar, a building integrated photovoltaics specialist from Spain, designed the semi-translucent panels, which look like smoked acrylic sheets. The walkable solar panels are integrated as a small section of the public sidewalk that sits flush with the surrounding cement. The Solar Walk spans a short distance between the Exploration and Innovation Halls at the intersection of George Washington Boulevard and University Drive.

The photovoltaic pavers can produce a peak energy output of 400 watts, which is used to power 450 LEDs installed underneath the panel pathway. The walkway also connects to a solar-powered trellis designed by Studio39 Landscape Architecture. The trellis installed at the end sidewalk creates energy that feeds back into the University’s Innovation Hall building.

Hopefully the project will lead to more solar walkways around the world – they’d make concrete jungles a whole lot more energy-efficient.