China on Thursday opened a kilometre long expressway for testing. The nascent technology was tapped in Jinan, the capital city of China’s Shangdong province. The solar road consists of an insulating layer on the bottom, photovoltaic panels in the middle, and transparent concrete on top.

Qilu Transportation Development Group, the project developer claimed that the road which comprises of solar panels covering 5,875 square meters can generate  1 million kilowatt-hours of power in a year, or enough to meet the energy demands of about 800 homes.

If the test proves successful, the electricity generated by the panels can be used to power everything from street lights to signboards, and even a snow-melting system on the road. Any excess energy can be sent to the state grid.

Xu Chunfu, the group's chairman stated that the project will save the space for building solar farms and shorten the transmission distance. China is also striving to use this special road as a site to serve as a clean energy lab to test other technologies, including wireless charging for electric vehicles and providing internet connection.

China is investing billions in renewable energy and aims to build 54.5GW of large-scale solar projects by 2020.