Roads as Renewable energy source
A photovoltaic guardrail will be located along the on-service highway A4 connecting Torino to Trieste, in northern Italy, in the area interested by the service area of A4 Sebino km. 197+500, where a total of 100 m of guardrail will be installed.
As the energy production depends on several physical parameters, the location of the on-site pilot must be representative of the average, if not extreme conditions and will keep into account factors i.e., latitude, solar radiation, ambient temperature, inclination of the barrier and orientation of the highway. Other aspects considered are traffic and safety conditions and elements/utilities to be powered.
Demonstration and validation of:
- Photovoltaic Guardrail for optimisation of energy use and increased share of renewable energy resources for infrastructure management.
- Environmental and economic sustainability of the proposed technological solution is expected as self-production.
- Self-energy harvesting and reuse on site will contribute to the reduction of the overall energy need and of CO2 emissions for transport infrastructures (TIs).
- The same level of functional and technical performances, especially in terms of users’ safety, will be guaranteed.
- Identification of maintenance needs.
- Scalability, replicability and adaptability of the proposed solution to new needs, demands and specifications, for future development of a family of guardrails for different type on TIs.
