Bicycling has several advantages: It reduces the number of cars on the road, cutting emissions and traffic; it makes you healthier; and during rush hour traffic, it’s faster than your car. Now Netherlands has decided to take the advantages of bicycling one step further — by installing solar panels on bike lanes.

The government of North Holland will be placing solar panels on a cycle path near the town of Krommenie, near Amsterdam.

Called Solaroad, the project will be installed in 2012, and is expected to generate 50 kWh per square meter per year. The electricity will be used for street lighting, traffic systems, or for household use. The way this works: thick concrete blocks are covered in a 1cm thick layer of silicon solar cells, which are then protected by toughed glass, allowing bikers to ride on the bike lanes. The project has been developed by the TNO research institute along with the Province of North Holland, the Ooms Avenhorn Group and Imtech.

Now if people find a way to produce solar energy on roads to power electric cars — we may soon move past our need for gasoline!

Via Springwise