About a week ago, we tweeted about Scott and Julie Brusaw from Idaho USA, who have spent the last 8 years dedicating their time and resources to developing a revolutionary new road surface – the Solar Roadway. Scott is an engineer with 25 years experience in industry, and Julie is a counsellor, a couple with an inspirational idea and the dedication to work at making it a reality. It looked like a great idea; in the last 7 days, the campaign has spread far and wide across social media.
On first glance, the roadway appears like a great idea, and relatively simple, a surface that can be driven on safely, powered by the sun to light up your way. However, the couple claim potential benefits that are possibly beyond comprehension compared to our existing road experience.
- Solar Roadways is a modular paving system of solar panels that can withstand the heaviest of trucks (250,000 pounds)
- They pay for themselves primarily through the generation of electricity, which can power homes and businesses connected via driveways and parking lots
- A nationwide system could produce more clean renewable energy than a country uses as a whole (http://solarroadways.com/numbers.shtml)
- They contain heating elements to stay snow/ice free
- LEDs light up road lines and signage
- Attached Cable Corridors provide a “home” for power and data cables. All of the ugly overhead cables that mar the landscape and are susceptible to damage from ice, can be placed in Cable Corridors, where utility workers can access them easily. There will be no more cell phone dead spots and no more need for cell towers due to the “leaky” cables that can be installed in the Cable Corridor. It would be a home for fibre optic internet too, bringing high speed internet to everyone.
- Currently, over 50% of the pollution in U.S. waterways comes from stormwater – a section in the Cable Corridors is designed for storing, treating, and moving stormwater.
- If there is danger ahead from a deer in the road or a sudden accident, the intelligent road can sense this and warn you to “Slow Down”
- EVs will be able to charge with energy from the sun (instead of fossil fuels) from parking lots and driveways
- After a roadway system is in place, mutual induction technology will allow for charging while driving
- The panels could also replace airport tarmac – not only would they generate large amounts of power, but pilots believe they could be used to provide signage visible to them from the air.
- Recycled glass makes up ten percent of the aggregate in the base layer for the prototype parking lot and the goal is to work with materials engineers to use as many recycled materials as possible at every phase of production.
- Solar Roadways can also become the Smart Grid. The roads that already traverse each country are perfect for becoming the grid that carries our power. It will allow us to create an organized system, a decentralized system which is secure and protected, unlike the current centralized power stations. Solar Roadways can become the hub which welcomes other types of renewable energy and other inventions into the Smart Grid for distribution.
These are all pretty amazing benefits, and the couple have already smashed their crowd funding target of $1,000,000 by an extra $565,172 – it’s reassuring there are so many people who believe in the potential of the project.
It would be amazing if this idea became an affordable, practical reality. While everyone is very aware of Global Warming and Climate Change, individuals and Governments are proving themselves to be unwilling to make changes that impinge on current lifestyle expectations. Companies such as Tesla are successfully bringing viable alternatives into the public consciousness and challenging the status-quo when it comes to transport.
However, while the idea sounds amazing, there is always another side to any story. There are those who are quite rightfully challenging the apparent claims about solar roadways – who will pay the costs of actually installing the roadways, of managing them into the future when they become outdated by more efficient technology? Why would companies invest in upgrading car parks with solar when they could get better returns on roof installations? What happens to the cell efficiency when the roads are covered in oil spots and tyre marks?
But, just imagine how different travel could be if Solar Freakin’ Roadways became a reality? The idea might not prove to be a realistic proposition on a large scale, but it has certainly got people talking and engaging in discussion about what might be possible, and that can only be a good thing.
The indiegogo campaign ends on 31st May.
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