PLATIO: These Sidewalk Panels from Recycled Plastics Could Harness Solar and Kinetic Enegy

A new company from Hungary is reinventing urban and road planning by installing solar panels made from recycled plastics on sidewalks to collect both solar and kinetic energy.

Tagged as PLATIO, the technology involves solar panels laid on sidewalks and protected by a mold of reused plastics. The men behind this innovation are Imre Sziszák, who is responsible for the creation of the "injection-molded bases," and Miklós Ilyés and József Cseh, who was responsible for the look and functionality of the panels, Tech Crunch reports.

“The founders are childhood friends and environmentally friendly technology enthusiasts. Two years ago, as all us happened to move to Budapest we started hang out again and realized as having expertise in very various fields we work together efficiently. We started this project two years ago, and founded our company a year ago," Sziszák told Tech Times.

The PLATIO solar panels are built from monocrystalline silicon cells that are mounted to tempered glass and then attached to the injection-molded bases made of recycled plastic. The system clicks together like LEGO bricks and comes in three colors to blend seamlessly with different types of pavements, as per Treehugger.

PLATIO says that the solar panels are estimated to produce 160W per square meter of installation and could provide energy for low-power applications.

"The planned product integrates different types of environmentally friendly technologies such as solar panels to use the solar power and kinetic energy converters to transform the energy of human steps or any other means of vibration," PLATIO writes on their website.

PLATIO is an ingenious alternative to normal pavements in an environmental-friendly way by using waste products.