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First Glow-In-the-Dark Road Debuts In Netherlands
An anonymous reader writes "A 500 meter (0.3 mile) stretch of road in the Netherlands has opened without the standard crop of streetlights lining its perimeter. The streetlights are believed to be unnecessary since the road markings were painted on with a mix of photo-luminescent powder, which absorbs sunlight during the day and radiates a portion of that energy back at night. Whether the modified road paint can withstand harsh weather or even provide sufficient lighting given insufficient exposure to sunlight during the day remains to be seen. The project was orchestrated by Studio Roosegaarde, which in the future plans to implement weather-sensitive road markings that would inform drivers when outside temperatures drop or rise above certain levels."
Just found a video on dutch TV
http://nos.nl/video/634091-eerste-autoweg-met-glowing-lines.html
there is a video of the road on dutch television. video of the road
It does look quite nice!
Right. Also, this cant work on overcast days . I really don't see the point of it . I'd say they'd rather invest that effort on headlight technology
If needed, it can be powered through electricity according to the Dutch news source.
The Dutch article mentioned that the paint can also be illuminated by passing electricity trough it, to cover the long, dark days. This "booster" system is also primarily running from solar power, probably using a battery but that's not explicitly mentioned.
The Dutch article (http://nos.nl/audio/634119-het-lijkt-alsof-je-door-een-sprookjesbos-rijdt.html) has a low-res picture of it. The thing looks like a video, but is actually an audio fragment, but the picture is an actual picture of the 500m stretch of road.
You can drive when the moon is out, especially when there's a full moon. I've done it on lonely stretches of road. Just turn off the headlights and you can see pretty much everything you need to see. Of course you can't do it when there are other vehicles out and about.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bk4mNfMIEAAkefo.jpg
I don't think it's actually in use yet. It's still being set up.
Second, this is not painted on the road, it is a special strip that is embedded in the road surface. They can also send a tiny bit of current through it to intensify the glow, which is especially useful in winters. It essentially cuts the energy requirement with a factor of a few million (a number which I just made up).
Disclaimer: I live in the Netherlands