By 2050, Barcelona wants to become a carbon neutral city, and the installation of Spain’s first photovoltaic pavement is the first step. The installation happened in a small park in the Glories area of the city, and it will be able to generate 7,560kWh a year which is enough to supply three households. While most of Spain’s solar power is currently coming from large farms, where land is cheap in remote areas, the goal is to be able to supply solar energy to blocks of flats. To do this, Eloi Badia, responsible for ecological transition and climate emergency at Barcelona city council, knows they needed to move solar closer to the city.
Fernando Prieto, the executive director of Sustainability Observatory, said “What we need to focus on is green policies to create employment, specifically to install solar panels on 1m rooftops… this would take five years, generate enough electricity for 7.5 million people, create over 15,000 jobs and cut CO2 emissions by 4.2m tonnes.”
The project will be assessed after six months, especially because this project comes with a more pressing issue than traditional roof or ground mounted solar systems. Due to the panels being on the ground as part of the sidewalk, they will have to assess the wear and tear on the panels. Although they are confident in their resiliency, it is still a major factor in the job’s future.
Please look at the original article, written by Stephen Burgen and posted on TheGuardian.com
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/29/barcelona-installs-spains-first-solar-energy-pavement?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco&fbclid=IwAR12rPKTtE2U-hd0cHrd_QqemLAXo4pySxfJNMzcuBoUCwR35_y6emfQ7EU
