Have you heard of Solar Roadways? This is a game changer. Presently surpassing expectations, solar roadways being tested in Norway are holding up under the scrutiny of the US Federal Highway Commission as well as other government’s worldwide. Innovation that could not only save money, but also produce enough electrical power to replace our dependency on fossil fuels many times over.
If you’ve ever experienced car trouble on a dark country road and needed emergency roadside assistance you would be someone who would be especially appreciative of the roadway being lit from within. The tow truck driver would find you quicker and you wouldn’t have to deal with the creepiness of being stranded in the dark. The advantages of solar roadways go way and beyond a simple scenario such as this, but this is an example of a just one practical aspect.
Thanks to a couple from Sandpoint, Idaho, Scott and Julie Brusaw, for putting their idea up on Indiegogo, a crowd funding campaign, the project may soon become a reality. ‘Soon’ being a relative term as all things considered an enormous amount of research and development is still in the hopper. With donations to their campaign coming in from over 165 countries amounting to 2.2 million dollars, the message is that it appears that this is an idea whose time has come. Investors from all over want to be a part of this.
The road would be made up of individual hexagonal glass panels that gather their power from the sun and emit light. They can be set to a level of brightness that is determined by their location. They can be rearranged to form different surface designs such as changing the configurations of lanes, parking lots or recreational playgrounds.
They need to be made strong enough and reliable under heavy traffic conditions. The present requirements would also mean the panels would have to be self cleaning, impact resistant and have good traction capabilities. Sensors would alert the system’s road manager if a panel failed and that individual pane could be replaced, which could be done in a short time period. Instead of days and heavy equipment to repair road damage simple panel replacement is a matter of minutes.
A solar prototype of their invention has been laid in the Netherlands. In the suburbs of Krommenie and Wormerveer a 230 foot stretch of bike lane is being actively tested for effectiveness, durability and proof of concept. So far the return of electricity from the sun as its sole power source has more than tripled expectations and has produced approximately 3,000 kilowatts of energy since last November. That’s enough to power a a single small household for a year. If that’s with just 230 feet, imagine what a superhighway could yield. They intend to expand next year to 328 feet since the project is already showing great promise in it’s early stages.
Here in the US the Department of Transportation’s Small Business Innovation Research section commissioned a 12 x 36 ft. parking lot using hexagonal panels that generate enough heat to automatically remove snow and ice in winter conditions. They also include LEDs to relay messages, like directional arrows or stop/yield, etc. The panels have withstood 250,000 pounds of weight during this testing and again are showing great promise for a future of solar roadways.
Is this our future? It seems too good to be true – even for a dreamer. The return on the investment being safer roads and highways along with the solar energy that is supplied to power homes and businesses. From this author’s point of view it can’t happen fast enough.