Could future roads be paved with solar panels?
Solar Roadways’ co-founder Scott Brusaw seems to think so. The electrical engineer has been working with his wife Julie to develop solar roads that generate electricity.
Brusaw views power-generating solar roads as an economic feat as much as a technological one. To him, roads that can net some electricity will be necessary in a resource- and cash-strapped future.
“In December of 2007, a ton of liquid asphalt was $175. We’re getting quotes of over a thousand dollars a ton,” Brusaw says in a video introducing Solar Roadways. “Asphalt has gone up so much because it’s petroleum-based. I don’t believe we’re going to have the ability to build asphalt roads in 50 years. What we’re proposing is a road that pays for itself over its lifespan. Not only pay for itself, but provide a whole slew of new features.”
The United States would be a great location for a solar road project, largely because, well, we have a lot of roads. And if we can energize some of those roads, there’s a lot of untapped potential.
“There’s 25,000 square miles of road surfaces, parking lots and driveways in the lower 48 states,” Brusaw says. “If we covered that with solar panels with just a 15 percent efficiency, we’d produce three times more electricity than this country uses on an annual basis. And that’s almost enough to power the whole world. Roads are collecting heat anyway. This thing collects the power and stores it.”
Even more convenient, we already have the infrastructure to deliver this road power to every American that lives along a paved road.
“Your whole road is an electric grid that delivers power right to your front door along with cable TV, high speed internet access, your telephone, everything right there. The technology behind it has already been done to death. I’m just taking a lot of different technologies and making something new out of it,” he continues.
We’re still a way off from having solar-powered roads, and many challenges facing Solar Roadways come from material strength. Although the pothole-scarred, cracked and neglected streets we see today may suggest otherwise, roads are built to be very durable and strong. And glass roads will need to be able to take a beating, let the sun in and not be too shiny.
“The one thing that hasn’t been done is driving on glass. It’s gotta have the same traction as asphalt, strong enough to support a fully loaded semi truck locking them up at 80 miles per hour. Shatter proof, fire proof. Transparent enough to allow the sunlight through but not enough to let the glare back into the driver’s eyes,” Brusaw says.
