A visionary project, called Solar Roadways, announced that it has been awarded a $100,000 Department of Transportation
contract to build a prototype road "paved" with solar panels.
Solar Roadways envisions a highway
that doubles as an intelligent, decentralized
power grid that will enable a gradual weaning from fossil fuels.
The Solar Roadways will collect solar energy to power businesses
and homes via structurally-engineered solar panels that are driven
upon, to be placed in parking lots and roadways in lieu of
petroleum-based asphalt surfaces. Fully electric vehicles will
be able to recharge along the roadway and in parking lots,
making electric cars more practical.
The Solar Road Panels will
contain embedded LEDs which "paint" the road lines from beneath to
provide safer nighttime driving, as well as to give up to the minute
instructions (via the road) to drivers (i.e. "detour ahead").
The road
also will be able to sense wildlife on its surface and can warn drivers to
"slow down." There will also be embedded heating elements in the
surface to prevent snow and ice buildup, providing for safer winter
driving.
Solar Roadways estimates that it would take roughly five billion
12′-by-12′ Solar Road Panels to cover the asphalt surfaces in the U.S.
alone. If these panels had a solar conversion efficiency of at least 15%, they could could produce three times more power than the U.S. has ever
used–almost enough to power the entire world, according to a press release. And due to the connective nature of roadways–no additional transmission lines would be needed.
Learn more at the Solar Roadways website below.
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