A super-CHARGED highway! Solar-powered road could one day charge cars and even power homes
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To date, solar panels have been installed in a host of locations, from roofs to open fields.
One bit of infrastructure that has yet to be exploited though is perhaps also the largest in total area that covers Earth – the roads our cars drive on.
But a company in Idaho is hoping to change all that by creating 'Solar Roadways' that not only provide power but also create smart digital driving surfaces as well.
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Idaho-based Solar Roadways has revealed their prototype for a new type of road that is embedded with solar panels (artist's illustration shown). By gathering energy for the sun it could provide energy to nearby towns and cities, and even electric cars as well
Co-founders Scott and Julie Brusaw are currently seeking for their ambitious proposal on Indiegogo.
They have developed a small segment of solar-powered road to prove their concept works.
And they're hoping to one day roll it out on roads through the US and ultimately the rest of the world in their bid to provide a novel method of accessing green energy.
Scott and Julie explain that their design has a number of uses.
First is obviously the ability to harness the power of the sun – they say, if installed nationwide in the US, their roads could provide more renewable energy than the entire energy the country uses.
This electricity can be transferred to nearby buildings, neighbourhoods and cities, and they claim it can also charge electric cars.
HOW THE SOLAR ROAD WORKS
The prototype road involves the use of inter-connected hexagons, each in turn made of 10% recycled glass.
Each hexagon has four layers, with the technology inside providing solar functionality.
At the bottom is a base layer of recyclable materials, such as glass, that is placed on the ground.
Above this is the support structure, which has circuitry embedded into it, and on top of these are LED lights.
Within the circuitry layer can also be found the solar cells, which collect light from the sun and convert it into useful electricity.
And finally, on top is a reinforced glass layer with traction support for vehicles, which can support trucks up to 250,000 pounds (115,000 kilograms).
The company was co-founded by husband and wife Scott and Julie Brusaw, pictured at a glass recycling centre used to manufacture their prototype road, who are currently seeking $1 million (£590,000) on Indiegogo to begin production of their concept surface
Solar Roadways received funding from the Federal Highway Administration in 2009 to build their prototype solar-powered parking lot (pictured), which was completed at the end of March, and they are now looking ahead to begin wider production
The innovative additional features that have also garnered a lot of interest.
The LEDs within the layer, powered by the sun, would allow the surface to become 'smart roads'.
These can be controlled remotely and light up to provide guidance to drivers – some could warn of upcoming hazards, or others could reallocate spaces in a car park, for example
The panels also contain heating elements that will instantly melt snow and ice that falls onto them.
The heating elements, however, are powered by the regular electricity grid, which the Solar Roadways would be connected to.
Solar Roadways estimates there is about 31,000 square miles (80,000 square kilometres) of usable road surfaces in the US that could be converted into solar-powered roads.
In 2009 they received a contract from the Federal Highway Administration to build the prototype.
But now they are hoping for $1 million (£590,000) in funding from Indiegogo in order to begin mass production of the road.
Scott and Julie say there are 31,000 square miles (80,000 square kilometres) of road surface in the US that their solar panelled road could be installed on, providing not only energy but also smart road surfaces as well that can change colour to give drivers information (artist's illustration shown)
LEDs within the panels have the ability to change colour. This could, for example, warn drivers of upcoming hazards or reallocate spaces in a car park
A heating element within the panels also makes them resistant to ice and snow. At the bottom are panels with the heating element turned off, while those on the top have it turned on
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