Solar Roadways was founded in 2006 by Scott and Julie Brusaw, and based in Idaho, United States. These two have been developing this idea since early childhood – they went to primary school together and are now married – and in recent years have managed to get some serious attention from domestic and foreign organisations including government bodies.
“The Solar Roadway is a series of structurally-engineered solar panels that are driven upon. The idea is to replace all current petroleum-based asphalt roads, parking lots, and driveways with Solar Road Panels that collect energy to be used by our homes and businesses. Our ultimate goal is to be able to store excess energy in or alongside the Solar Roadways. This renewable energy replaces the need for the current fossil fuels used for the generation of electricity. This, in turn, cuts greenhouse gases literally in half,” says Scott.
These Solar Roadways could in fact replace all power lines as energy can be produced and distributed with the Solar Roadways. Data cables used for telephone, cable TV, high-speed internet access, etc. could be contained within the same Solar Roadway and delivered right to people’s homes and business via the driveway or parking lot.
A parking lot of energy
Each individual panel consists of three basic layers: a Road Surface Layer, Electronics Layer, and Base Plate Layer. Recycled materials can be used for the internal support structure with items such as rubbish bags, water bottles and other plastics, and rubber tyres can be mixed with organic materials to create parts of the Solar Road Panels.
“What better way to ‘kill two birds with one stone’ than to give the garbage that sits in our landfills and oceans a new home inside the very panels that can power our world?” says Scott. From manufacturing through to installation and maintenance, Scott wants to make every effort to keep the project “green”.
In fact, Solar Roadways is committed to enhancing the physical environment in which the panels are used from several economic and social respects. For instance, several countries have approached Solar Roadways asking if they could manufacture the Solar Road Panels in their country. The answer was “Yes” but only under certain conditions: All work in the assembly plants and installation of the Solar Roadways has to be carried out by citizens of that country, and absolutely no exporting.
Scott believes that by using these parameters we would see local economies prosper, instead of only those of just a few nations on the Pacific Rim who may exploit their workers. He also says, “this approach will see unemployment rates decrease, world economy improves, and the world begins using clean renewable energy.”
Other benefits of this technology include:
- Climate Change and Global Warming shift
- Electric Vehicles become more practical because they can recharge anywhere
- Coal and oil become obsolete
- Driver Safety improves through illuminating lines, LED safety warnings of what’s ahead, snow and ice management, and the list goes on.
- Improving economy and energy standards for developed and underdeveloped nations
- More picturesque clear skies with less pollution and no power lines
In 2009, Solar Roadways received a contract from the US Federal Highway Administration to build the first ever Solar Road Panel prototype, which was completed in February 2010. Here you can see a video showing the prototype system:
The obvious drawback to actually implementing this technology is the upfront cost. Scott believes that the system will pay for itself over its lifecycle, which is something that asphalt and concrete can't do. “It will cost more to install than a typical road, and it may take 20 years to pay itself off. The solar cells, LEDs, and capacitors will have to be replaced, but short of being damaged, everything else could be reused.” Scott says that US$50M is needed to properly develop his company which would start with driveways, bike paths, patios, sidewalks, parking lots, and playgrounds. If successful this could then be extended to city roads and highways.
Solar Roadways recently entered GE’s Ecomagination Challenge: a US$200 million innovation experiment where businesses, entrepreneurs, innovators and students share their best ideas on how to build the next generation power grid. “What we need is a grass roots movement to send the Solar Roadways right to the top of GE's voting charts! This funding would be more than enough to finish our research and development”.
If you like this idea you can find the links to vote for all three of Solar Roadways entries: www.solarroadways.com/vote.shtml
Inspired by these amazing solar efforts and want to find out more about what you can do in Australia right now with Solar? Check out the businesses in the Solar section of business directory.
Written by Leor Shavel
Image credit: All photos by Dan Walden.
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