Yesterday, the N211 provincial road near The Hague (the Netherlands) had its grand re-opening after the recent renovation works. While making the plans for the renovation of the N211 provincial road, the Province of South-Holland set the ambitious goal to make the N211 completely carbon neutral. To reach this goal, a collaboration was set up between several parties, including the Province, construction company BAM and FlexSol Solutions. When you now drive this road and drive past the Soluxio solar light poles, for a moment you will feel like you are in the future. Nothing less is true; the N211 is the new reality, in the present and the future.
Soluxio solar streetlighting
One of the applied innovations on this road is FlexSol’s Soluxio solar streetlight. All solar light poles in this project are grid-connected. This means that the renewable solar energy that is generated by the cylindrical solar modules is fed back into the grid. The light pole feeds energy into the electricity grid during daytime and withdraws it again during the night to light the road. Besides that, the light pole is made from easily recyclable materials.
The installed Soluxio light poles have one more interesting feature: the solar light poles are the first crash-friendly solar light poles in the world, with a 100NE3 rating. These poles are manufactured by our world-class partner Nedal. The crash-friendly design results in a reduced chance of injuries after a collision with the light pole.
Other innovations
In total, 21 innovative products were applied in the N211. The solar street light is not the only innovation that uses solar energy to reduce CO2 emissions. For example, the bus stop shelters are equipped with PV panels, there are solar panel benches along the road and even the bike path has integrated solar cells! But not only solar power-based innovations were used. For example, hydrozine was used instead of diesel to power the generators during the construction work. Furthermore, sustainable materials are used such as bamboo and geopolymers. Another great example is that the road collects energy in the summer, and uses that energy in the winter to keep the road or some buildings around warm.
All these innovations combined make the N211 the most sustainable road in the Netherlands. According to the Province of South-Holland, this project sets the new standard for all future roads in the county, with the ambitious goal to be entirely carbon neutral by 2050 as far as mobility concerns. We believe that energy neutral lighting will play a key role in realising this ambition, and hope to contribute to achieving these goals for many years to come!
