Wouldn’t it be amazing if our parking lots and roadways could be made of solar panels? If Scott and Julie Brusaw’s dream comes true, their company, Solar Roadways will transform those pothole ridden roadways, driveways, and parking lots into solar powered surfaces. With two rounds of federal funding and a successful Indiegogo funding of over $2 million dollars, we may see the Solar Roadways. The beauty of these solar powered roads could pay for themselves and get us off the energy hog freeway. (Note, you can still contribute until June 20, 2014.)
What Are Solar Powered Roads?
Watch the short video below which explains the technology behind Solar Roadways.
In a nutshell, solar roadways are made of smart micro-processing interlocking hexagonal solar units. If one unit is damaged, it can be replaced.
In addition, every panel has a series of LEDs in the circuit board which can be programmed to create different configurations. The surface of the units could either light up and warn drivers of children in a crosswalk or deer on the road or alternatively, change a basketball court into a hopscotch playground with a flick of a switch. The possibilities are endless. (The picture above is an artist rendition of downtown Sandpoint, Idaho. Graphic design by Sam Cornett )
Environmental and Financial Aspect:
According to the Company, the roadways could produce over three times the electricity we use in the United States.
“The “lower 48” could produce just about enough electricity to supply the entire world. And once again, remember: these calculations are made with very conservative numbers using north Idaho as a reference point, which is one of the worst case scenarios in the U.S. where latitude is concerned (OK, we have to concede to Alaska!).
The Company further indicates that if all asphalt areas were converted to solar roadways, we could cut greenhouse gas emissions by 75%.
“As best we can tell, it is estimated that approximately half (different agencies provide different estimates, but the average is about 50-percent) of the greenhouse gases that are causing global warming come from the burning of fossil fuels (primarily coal) to generate electricity. The Solar Roadway therefore has the ability to eliminate half of the greenhouse gases currently being produced.
Another 25-percent comes out of our tailpipes. A Solar Roadway is an electric road that can recharge electric vehicles (EVs) anywhere. We’re talking with companies that make mutual induction plates to charge EVs while they’re driving (the “receiver” plate gets mounted beneath the EV and the “transmitter” plate is installed in the road). The Solar Roadway could charge the EVs while they’re traveling, which would increase their range. With an infrastructure in place that will make EVs finally practical, people would likely start trading in their internal combustion engine vehicles for EVs. Eventually, we’d have eliminated an additional 25-percent of greenhouse gases.”
Additionally, everyone could drive an electric car since it could be re-charged at every parking lot. Both range anxiety and automobile air pollution would no longer exist.
Best yet, in Phase II of the project, the team will explore how ordinary garbage can be use in the internal support structure of the road panels.
Someone pinch me and tell me this isn’t a dream.
Isn’t It Time to Switch from Asphalt?
According to National Asphalt Pavement Association, “the United States has more than 2.6 million miles of paved roads and highways, and 93 percent of those are surfaced with asphalt. ”
Asphalt is made of stone or gravel and a binder of a sticky tar-like substance which is made from petroleum. The NY Times reported in a 2008 article that the price of asphalt has doubled since 2005.
Despite the rising costs of asphalt and continued costly yearly maintenance, the roads, parking lots, and driveways are a heat sinks causing increased energy usages by nearby buildings.
Plus, asphalt roadways are hazardous in the north with freeze thaw conditions causing accidents.
In the north, the panels would have an element that would melt the snow and prevent ice from forming. Therefore, cities could reduce their costs on snow removal as well as reduce the environmental impact of salt usage.
In the Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine article, “Keep Roads on a Low Salt Diet, Roger Bannerman, DNR water resource management specialist states:
“Road salt use is a sleeping giant… The potential for chloride to damage our water systems is more inevitable than climate change.”
Worse yet, low cost fracking brine is being used in some NY counties to de-ice the roadways. This brine could contains toxic substances such as toulene, benezene, and chlorine which could pollute our waterways.
Where to Begin
The Company states that it would start out small with driveways, sidewalks, and parks. It has already built a 12 by 12 prototype.
As of this point, they do not know the cost of the project. However, businesses could generate their own electricity, lease out their parking lot for advertising, and charge people to re-charge their electric vehicles. Even states and the federal government could sell back energy to the grid from roads that they own.
Sounds like a win win to me.
If you have any questions about the project, read the Company’s extensive FAQs. They have endeavored to answer as many questions as they can.
If you are interested in becoming a future customer, send an email HERE to express your interest. There is no obligation to purchase. (I sent an email. I hate my asphalt driveway.)
Join the Conversation:
What do you think of solar roadways?
Thanks to Mary Clare Hunt of In Women We Trust for the tip.
Jenna Pizzigati-Coppola says
June 13, 2014 at 10:54 amLove the concept and the hexagon pattern!
Anna@Green Talk says
June 13, 2014 at 11:31 amMe too, Jenna. I can’t wait until they roll out this concept.
mUSEUM OF lITTER says
June 16, 2014 at 5:38 pmWouldn’t this be great as the outer layer for solar dome homes as well? Domes already cut the consumption of electric for cooling and heating by more than one half. It would be amazing to create the electric needed by solar.
Betsy (Eco-novice) says
June 16, 2014 at 7:45 pmWhat a fabulous idea! Love people putting their talent into these innovative solutions.
Green Girl Success says
June 17, 2014 at 2:44 pmWhile I am all for alternative energy solutions, there are few problems with this scenario. There is no incentive to reduce driving which still takes a ton of resources to produce cars and then landfill space to dispose. Add in obesity, suburban sprawl, stormwater runoff pollution and ecosystem disruption, and I don’t see these roads as a source of solving these other problems. Additionally, it takes rare earth metals to make the panels and solar panels, in general, take about 4-8 years to pay back the energy used to produce the panels. Therefore, we would do more damage to the earth by trying to implement such a massive solar solution all at once, without any attempt at resource reduction first.
A better option, in my opinion, would be to incentivize people to reduce driving and use these panels to install walkable/bikable surfaces and use the power to encourage smaller, more efficient homes and buildings.
As an engineer myself and as a sustainability and energy consultant, I can confidently say that we cannot engineer our way out of our environmental problems. We also cannot look at climate change independent of all other environmental problems including waste and water. We must reduce drastically and in return, live simpler, happier and healthier lives.
Anna@Green Talk says
June 17, 2014 at 9:47 pmGreen Girl, they want to start small with sidewalks and driveways. I hear you about changing our ways. I wish that could happen too. How do you see this change and what incentives do you think would motivate people?
I find with every green building venture, it also comes with environmental burdens. It seems it is always a balancing act. Thanks so much for visiting and sharing your perspective.
Green girl success says
June 18, 2014 at 1:57 pmThanks for the reply Anna. First off, I love your website!
Secondly, as far as incentives go, I personally would love to see an ‘externality tax’ of some sort… i.e. a tax on the negative social and environmental impacts of the life cycle a product. This would theoretically make it so that the toxic filled hand cream for $2 would now cost the same as the hand cream that uses organic, fair trade, non-toxic ingredients in eco-friendly packaging. Additionally, this would mean that local, sustainable farms that produce real food would be subsidized rather than the gmo and chemical laden corn, soy and wheat monocultures that just become highly processed food. Gas would be $10/gallon. Etc… This tax could help keep the EPA strong.
However, the problem is that the corporations have deep pockets and big lobbying budgets, so this will most likely not happen in the near future. So, we can’t rely on government incentives, but rather, this needs to happen by voting with our wallets.
I try to get people to understand that if something is truly ‘green’, then it will also be better for our health, wealth and happiness. Who wouldn’t want that? For example, hybid cars are expensive, and they are still cars and not healthy for us when we spend too much time in them. A solar powered McMansion, also expensive, usually still means more time spent on cleaning, maintenance and commuting for less time spent on things that bring us real happiness. All these expenses (“overhead” in business terms) also may keep us at jobs that we don’t enjoy or that don’t align with our values.
What is truly sustainable is living a simpler, more fulfilling life by focusing on people, experiences and leisure time, over stuff, even ‘green’ stuff. Then, you will find purpose, passion and prosperity beyond your wildest beliefs. Living a simple, low impact lifestyle has allowed me to semi-retire before 40 and do work that is creative and brings purpose into my life. That is my incentive! My goal is to share this incentive with others.
I highly recommend the book “Your Money or Your Life”, by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez
Anna@Green Talk says
June 18, 2014 at 10:33 pmGreen Girl, I am blushing. Thanks for the compliment. Love the tax idea to create a level playing field. I agree about living simpler since it frees your time up to do what you want.
Congrats on creating your dream lifestyle. I hope other can learn from your success. Anna
Jack William says
November 5, 2014 at 2:45 pmThose power banks are definitely a business to watch out for in the next coming years. With the ever increasing cell phone size, and how much we’ve been using them, extra power almost seems like a must! Only if they could speed up the release of ultra small high capacity batteries.. now that would be something!
Thomas Leo says
May 26, 2015 at 6:42 amThis is looking so beautiful. It is an amazing idea to do solar path and driveways. It looks like a heaven in photos. I am completely impressed by these creativeness. I think this should be done by everyone. It will be good for our living environment.
Jasmine says
September 26, 2015 at 6:10 pmI simply cannot wait for this to become a reality. I just hope that governments take heed and consider funding such projects!
Dallas says
June 12, 2016 at 4:20 pmwhen do you think these will be available to the consumer and a cost associated. I live in south Florida and my driveway could probably power my entire house. I am thinking of solar panels on the roof but they are not very strong in the hurricane season.
Anna@Green Talk says
June 13, 2016 at 9:36 pmDallas, I bet they will be pretty expensive at first. I didn’t see a time line. I hope soon. Anna
McKenzie says
January 12, 2017 at 5:17 pmWOW! This is just TOO cool. Streets, driveways, and sidewalks make up SO much surface area, so why not use it to make energy!