SolarLite, part of Clearview group, has partnered with the Local Council Roads Innovation Group (LCRIG) to challenge UK local authorities to identify a problem that SolarLite active road studs can help with and put them to the test.

The company is looking to select three authorities, each of which will receive up to 100 SolarLite active road studs free of charge with standard installation, and will be tasked with putting ‘innovative highway technology into practice' to generate evidence and learning for the sector.

The challenge is being run as part of LCRIGs ‘Innovation in Action' series and will build on evidence gathered during the ADEPT Live Labs programme in East Riding.

Clearview is looking for authorities that think SolarLite could help improve either road safety, reduce carbon and street lighting costs, or possibly even tackle both.

To be in with a chance of being selected, authorities must submit an application before 30 November and tell the company about a highways challenge that could be remedied by the road stud technology. The application needs to include the location, the challenge and what you'd like to achieve by taking a different approach, but it does not need to design a scheme and tell SolarLite:

  • What's the challenge? Describe the issue and why it has selected this location.
  • What does it want to achieve or learn? Explain what the authority hopes the SolarLite deployment could help it understand, improve or demonstrate.
  • What outcomes is it looking for? Tell SolarLite what practical difference it hopes the scheme could make.
  • How could it be measured? Tell SolarLite what baseline information is available or could be collected and how the impact could be assessed following installation.
  • Are there any known delivery constraints? Tell the company about anything that may affect delivery of the scheme.

Authorities are not limited to one application, but each one must be for a different location.

To help authorities develop submissions, Clearview plans to host two webinars covering the challenge, what it's looking for and how to put together a strong application. Attendees will also be able to ask any questions they might have ahead of the submission deadline.

Applications are open to both local and highways authorities across the whole of the UK.

Full details of the challenge and how to apply can be found here.