Dive Brief:

• A 100-square-foot demonstration solar sidewalk is in place in Ashburn, Va., at George Washington University's Science and Technology Campus.
• It uses 27 semi-translucent panels made to be slip-resistant.
• The sidewalk powers its own 450 LED lights beneath the solar panels.

Dive Insight:

This demonstration sidewalk section suggests that a lot more impervious area in a commercial or residential project could generate power, and that in turn might mean less net power consumption for such uses as walkway lighting. This announcement comes not long after another power-reducing technology for pathways—a surface application for asphalt that stores solar energy and releases it back in a luminous nighttime glow.

George Washington University has installed the world's first walkable solar pavement, a 100-sf demonstration sidewalk, at its Virginia Science and Technology Campus in Ashburn, Va., according to a report by Sourceable.