Wouldn't it be great if our roads would act like solar panels? And if we could power our vehicles with the solar electricity from these roads? These questions formed the beginning of a vision for the future: the large-scale harvesting of renewable energy from the sunlight that hits our road network every day. In October 2014, a first stretch of SolaRoad was realized in a public bike road near Krommenie in The Netherlands. The pilot project has been successful, and various follow-up projects have been realized, both in The Netherlands and abroad, with many more to follow. Sten de Wit will talk about the vision behind SolaRoad, will present current results and challenges, and provide an outlook to next steps and future initiatives.

Dr. M.S. (Sten) de Wit (1964) is innovator and strategic business developer at TNO, Netherlands organization for applied scientific research. Sten's passion is to develop innovative solutions and partnerships at the interface of infrastructure, energy and mobility, focusing on cutting CO2-emissions and boosting sustainable energy production.

In 2010, Sten initiated SolaRoad, a Dutch public-private partnership, to develop roads that also function as solar panels. Imagine a future in which our roads harvest solar energy, convert it to electricity, and power the cars from the road. As first steps towards this inspiring outlook for the future, SolaRoad projects have been realized at various locations in The Netherlands and in France. In addition to being milestones for technical innovation, these pilot projects spark inspiration and debate among stakeholders and thought leaders throughout the world. Follow-up projects are currently being developed in The Netherlands and abroad.

Sten has a MSc in Applied Physics from Eindhoven University of Technology, and a PhD in Technical Sciences from Delft University of Technology.

TNO (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research) is one of the major research organisations in Europe. TNO connects people and knowledge to create innovations that boost the sustainable competitive strength of industry and well-being of society. With a staff of approximately 3000 and an annual turnover of 500 million euros, TNO creates impact in five areas: Healthy Living, Industry, Urbanisation, Energy, and Defence, Safety and Security. TNO's client portfolio includes industry and government organisations, both in The Netherlands and abroad (about 30% of the turnover).