Thieves shut China’s solar highway after just five days
Road built from solar panels targeted by gang thought to be trying to steal technology
A section of a new “solar highway” in eastern China has been stolen just five days after it opened, local media has reported.
The one-kilometre stretch of photovoltaic highway – built of solar panels which cars can drive over – opened for testing in Jinan, the capital of Shandong province on December 28.
During a routine inspection last Tuesday, staff found that it had been vandalised and a portion of it was missing, Qilu Evening News reported.
A narrow 1.8-metre panel had been removed and seven surrounding panels damaged by the thieves.
A road construction worker was quoted as saying that it appeared the theft was the work of a professional team that may have been interested in the technology used on the road.
The solar highway forms part of Jinan’s ring road system. There is a thin layer of transparent concrete on top of the panels to protect them and a layer of insulation below.