Saturday, August 16, 2014

Solar Roadways

You have probably heard by now about a group that is working on solar roadways. If you have not, let me be the first to tell you that these panels seem amazing. These solar panels would replace regular parking lots or roads with panels that use the sun to power them. They have built in lights.

This allows the roads to have signs such as Stop Ahead or Left Turn Only or even simple painted lines right on them. Signs that can be easily changed.   I am so in awe of this concept that I participated in a recent crowd funding event to get them the money to built full size parking lots for testing and development.  They sent me a lovely thank you video--see below.


The panels would be self heating so snow and ice would melt off them. They would be heavy duty so that large trucks could run over them.  They will be able to warn a driver if something is crossing the road ahead because all of the panels would be interconnected and be able to communicate with each other.

I sincerely hope this idea grows and develops into a viable option to repair our failing roads here in the US.  I know right now it seems like a long shot but if we could even just use it for new development, it would make a difference. I am not the only one who thinks so.  Here is a link to a video with a lot more information and a pretty excited narrator. Check out "Solar Freakin Roadways".



No comments:

Post a Comment