In 2008 KuiperCompagnons was commissioned by the local government of ArRiyadh in Saudi Arabia to draw up an urban design and development plan for Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Road. This roadway is one of the most important main connections between the King Khalid International Airport and the city centre of ArRiyadh, a city of almost 5 million inhabitants.
One of the city's aspirations is to increase the use of public transport. An important factor to be able to achieve this is the improvement of the comfort and the ease of use. The stations have been situated at strategic locations so that passengers have a maximum ease of access. By planting trees in combination with the creating of a shady roof of solar panels above the road - the 'solar ribbon' - the comfort factor in making use of the trams and buses, has been improved.
Having a length of more than 20 kilometres, the Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Road has an enormous potential to generate solar energy. With its sculptural design, the solar ribbon is a striking visual element and symbolizes the city's commitment for a sustainable future. In conjunction with other solar power installations, the solar ribbon, which consists of approximately 1,700 solar panels along its central axis, generates an amount of energy which is adequate for the needs of a maximum of 7,500 households (based on typical domestic needs including air conditioning, refrigerators, freezers, lighting, television, computers, etc).