Peachtree Corners Smart City and The Ray Install USA’s First Road Surface Solar Panels on Autonomous Vehicle Lane
- Solar roadway brings renewable, off-grid, Level 2 EV charging to City Hall; use of charger is free to motorists
- French-engineered road surface solar panels, the first in an American city, may power more parts of the city in the future – from streetlights to other city infrastructure, including backup for grid outages
- Solar roadway system highlights the city’s leadership in testing the latest green-energy, off-grid technologies in a smart city environment
PEACHTREE CORNERS, Ga. – Dec. 3, 2020 – Peachtree Corners – the nation’s first smart city environment powered by real-world infrastructure and next-generation connectivity – today unveiled the city’s new solar roadway system which produces energy for a solar-powered EV charging station located at city hall. The installation also marked the first road surface-powered solar panels to be activated in a United States city.
- The solar roadway is located in a section of Technology Parkway’s autonomous vehicle test lane and was provided to the city through a partnership with The Ray, a nonprofit living laboratory and proving ground located along an 18-mile stretch of Interstate 85 spanning between LaGrange and the Georgia/Alabama state line.
- The new system at Peachtree Corners will produce more than 1,300 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually for a Level 2 EV charger at city hall at no cost to EV motorists. The charger is also equipped with an energy storage system for nighttime charging.
- The Wattway solar roadway panels, manufactured by French transportation innovator Colas Group in partnership with the French National Solar Energy Institute, were engineered to be more durable and efficient – resulting in a 21 percent performance increase over previously deployed panels.
“As further reinforcement of Peachtree Corners’ leadership in introducing and developing the latest technologies in a real-world environment, we’re excited to have been working with The Ray to install the country’s first road surface solar panels manufactured by Wattway, within our one-of-a-kind autonomous vehicle lane,” said Brandon Branham, chief technology officer and assistant city manager of Peachtree Corners. “While this new form of 100-percent green, renewable energy will begin with supplying power to an EV charging station, our vision is to begin to power more existing infrastructure across the city, off-grid. We look forward to installing more panels throughout, which may include sidewalks, bike lanes and many more surfaces.”
“We are thrilled to be installing a solar road for the first time in an American city,” said Harriet Anderson Langford, founder and president of The Ray. “Our entire organization, with the help of key corporate partners, is dedicated to advancing the future of transportation infrastructure around the world. We have had lots of success using roadways, as well as unused interstate right-of-way, to generate massive amounts of electricity for EVs. Proving this technology in an environment like Peachtree Corners helps us further demonstrate its effectiveness while moving us toward implementation on a larger scale.”
The Ray was a 2018 Finalist for the Fast Company “World Changing Ideas Award,” and was featured on The Weather Channel as one of “Ten Best Ways to Save the Planet!”
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About the City of Peachtree Corners, Georgia
Situated alongside the Chattahoochee River and at the southwest corner of Gwinnett County in the metro Atlanta area, Peachtree Corners, Georgia is a vibrant municipality that’s home to more than 40,000 residents and an innovation hub that houses some of the world’s most disruptive technology companies. As the United States’ premiere smart city – powered by real-world connected infrastructure – Peachtree Corners serves as the model for how government and private industry can better collaborate to create a better future for society and business. From the world’s first fleet of teleoperated e-scooters deployed, a fully autonomous shuttle utilized by actual residents, a solar roadway to the largest electric vehicle charging hub in the region, Peachtree Corners is where the most future-forward Internet of Things (IoT) and sustainable technologies come to life for the benefit of its people, and the world. For more information, visit http://www.peachtreecornersga.gov.
About Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners
Curiosity Lab is a 5G-enabled autonomous vehicle and smart city living laboratory located in Peachtree Corners, Georgia, a northern suburb of Atlanta. The centerpiece of the lab is a 1.5-mile test and demo track which provides a real-world environment to explore emerging technologies. Additional infrastructure includes a network operations center, smart poles, DSRC units, dedicated fiber and a 25,000 square foot tech incubator. Additional information can be found at www.curiositylabptc.com
About The Ray
The Ray is a proving ground for the evolving ideas and technologies that will transform the transportation infrastructure of the future with the mission to build a zero carbon, zero waste, zero death highway system. It begins with the 18-mile stretch of interstate named in memory of Ray C. Anderson (1934-2011), a Georgia native who became a captain of industry and was recognized as a leader in green business when he challenged his company, Interface, Inc., to pursue zero environmental footprint. Chaired by Ray’s daughter Harriet Langford, The Ray is an epiphany of the Ray C. Anderson Foundation. Learn more at www.TheRay.org.
