( CNN ) -- The world 's first road capable of turning sunlight into energy officially opened for traffic Wednesday in the Netherlands . It 's actually a 230-foot-long bike path in the town of Krommenie . The road is a test route developed by the company SolaRoad . `` SolaRoad is a world first that will put the Netherlands on the map as a leader in sustainable innovation , '' said Henk Kamp , the Dutch minister of economic affairs , at the opening . The path is made of concrete modules with solar cells and covered with a thin layer of tempered glass . The energy created from the road can power things like street and traffic lights or households , according to company officials . Testing will continue for three years to further develop solar roads , officials said .
The world 's first road to convert sunlight into energy opens in the Netherlands . It 's a small patch of a bike path made of modules that contain solar cells . The developer will use it as a test route for three years . Energy created by the road can power vehicles and street lights or electricity , officials say .