Kamloops, British Columbia, is a radiant place, receiving over 3,100 hours of sunshine a year. So it’s no wonder that in 2016, Thompson Rivers University (TRU) decided to harness all that luminescence and convert it to electricity.
If the university’s solar array had been installed on a roof or mounted above ground in a corner of a soccer field, that probably would have been the end of the story. Instead, TRU didn’t follow trends — it set one: It became the first place in Canada to embed solar panels into the ground. By 2017, a 12-meter walkway with 16 solar modules near the campus daycare, together with a compass (sunburst) design of 62 modules in front of the arts and education building, were producing power. By its second summer of operation, the compass produced enough electricity to power an entire classroom of computers at TRU’s arts and education building for the day...
This is where in-ground solar shines. In 2021, the city of Barcelona installed Spain’s first photovoltaic (PV) pavement as part of the city’s goal to become climate neutral by 2030. In the Netherlands, an embedded 400-meter solar sidewalk in front of Groningen Town Hall is powering the building as part of that city’s ambition of becoming CO2 neutral by 2035. The project is part of the European Union’s Making City project, which aims to develop positive energy districts (PEDs) that demonstrate innovative solutions to tackle climate-neutral goals. The 400-square-meter installation is projected to offset approximately 18 tons of CO2 annually. “It is an example of how to use space in the city in a smart and sustainable way,” Philip Broeksma, councillor of energy from the Municipality of Groningen said when the sidewalks were revealed in 2023.
