SolarRoad units installed in cycle path in Estampes

French road building contractor Charier has introduced the SolarRoad kit (SRK) on a newly laid cycle path in Etampes, France. Two SRK units convert sunlight to electricity and provide lighting for a roundabout near Etampes, a small commune of around 26,000 people about 50km south-west of Paris. The installation helps Charier meet sustainability objectives within the framework of the Paris Agreement. An SRK has four elements of 2.5m x 3.5m and delivers around 3,500kWh per year, which according to Solar R
February 8, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Sunny side up: workers in France install the SolarRoad kit in Etampes
French road building contractor Charier has introduced the SolaRoad kit (SRK) on a newly laid cycle path in Etampes, France


Two SRK units convert sunlight to electricity and provide lighting for a roundabout near Etampes, a small commune of around 26,000 people about 50km south-west of Paris. The installation helps Charier meet sustainability objectives within the framework of the Paris Agreement.

An SRK has four elements of 2.5m x 3.5m and delivers around 3,500kWh per year, which according to 8663 SolaRoad is enough energy to power an average household for one year.

The solar panels can be driven upon but also carry cables. They contain LED lights to create lines and signage without paint and heating elements to prevent snow and ice accumulation. Microprocessors let the panels communicate with each other, a central control station, and vehicles. The glass has a tractioned surface which is equivalent to asphalt.

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, the Netherlands - a charging point for e-bikes and mobile phones.

Highway & Network Management

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Topcon machine control units take the heat off an Alaskan contractor
    December 4, 2015
    Juniper, spruce, cranberry, cottonwood and rose. Most people think of pine trees and berries amid beautiful country fields. But for one contractor based just below the Arctic Circle in the US state of Alaska, the names represent a successful job completed using machine control. Valley General Construction recently finished a US$350,000 contract for the upgrading of country roads in the local borough of Matanuska-Susitna. The colourful names belong to roads in a heavily wooded residential subdivision located
    Read More
  • Q-Free solution for Glasgow
    October 27, 2021
    Q-Free has won a four-year deal to set up its HI-TRAC CMU bicycle detection system including activated warning signs at 16 locations in Glasgow, Scotland.
    Read More
  • Clever approach to reducing bridge vibrations
    November 14, 2013
    Reducing vibrations on a bridge, supplying high-quality binders to emerging countries and helping small and medium players with warm mix, this month’s stories showcase some innovative bitumen technology solutions - Kristina Smith reports The Kessock Bridge in the Highlands of Scotland has become the third bridge in the UK to be resurfaced with Gussasphalt. A dense mastic asphalt containing Nynas Endura N5, a polymer modified binder, Gussasphalt has been designed to have a longer life than standard mastic as
    Read More
  • On site: VÖGELE SUPER 1803-3i paver
    July 30, 2020
    Improving a helipad 2,100m up in the Austrian Tyrol was exactly the type of demanding work for which the SUPER 1803-3i wheeled paver was made.
    Read More

Highlighted Content