SolaRoad is opening in the Netherlands next week. It's a 230-foot bike path paved with solar panels that can provide electricity for a handful of homes while people pedal around the subuarbs. According to The Guardian (UK) , the path – used by 2,000 people a day – connects the Amsterdam suburbs of Krommenie and Wormerveer, and will produce enough electricity to power roughly 3 homes once it's extended another 100 feet in 2016.Constructed by The Netherlands' TNO research institute, the paneled path is quite durable, made from concrete, crystalline solar cells, and a layer of tempered glass. The panels are less efficient than solar panels that sit atop roofs, producing roughly 70 percent of their typical output.Altogether, the project cost $3.7 million, nearly all of which was paid for by the local government.The idea of harvesting electricity from solar-paneled roads has also been proposed in the U.S., notably by Idaho couple Julie and Scott Brusaw – both engineers.They raised over $2 million via crowdfunding website IndieGoGo after releasing a video showing off their hexagonal road pavers, which not only harvest energy from the sun, but facilitate communications infrastructure, and sport LED lights that can act as road guides for drivers, bikers, and pedestrians.