Big Idea: Solar Roadways

 

This big idea gives me much hope for the future. It has sustained my optimism for a possible good outcome to this Climate Crisis since I first read of it in January 2011. Truly, this is something that would answer many problems associated with our climate crisis. It won't answer ALL our problems with carbon but it would significantly reduce our carbon output worldwide. The video above is being shown as a 'short' in cinemas across the United States this month. I am thrilled they are getting this much deserved exposure for their long years of work.

Their prototype parking lot is due to be finished sometime this fall. You can follow the progress of that and the overall project at their Facebook page: Solar Roadways.

Highlights: 

• Pays for itself
• Creates an infrastructure for electric vehicles
• "Will take 5 Billion panels to cover the roads in the United States. That's a lot of manufacturing. That's a lot of jobs."
• Reduces our dependence on petroleum to create asphalt
• Reduces need for combustion engines
• Reduces our dependence on oil to fuel cars, engines
• Provides an energy source to replace oil and coal
• Reduces our carbon output and will help slow Global Warming  
• Did I mention yet that it PAYS FOR ITSELF?

From the Solar Roadways FAQ page:

How much power can you expect to get out of a one-mile stretch of road?

One mile = 5280 feet. Our Solar Road Panels are 12' by 12'. Therefore, it will take 5280/12 = 440 panels to create one mile (one lane, 12 feet wide). Each panel is expected to produce 7600Wh of electricity daily based on 15% efficiency and four hours of sunlight per day (for more details, see the Numbers page).

440 times 7600Wh = 3.344MWhr per lane per mile. So a typical four lane highway will produce 13.376MWhr per mile, based on four hours of sunlight per day.

According to a 2007 study by the Energy Information Administration, the average American home used 936kWh per month. Dividing this number by 30 will give us an average need of 31.2kWh per day. Dividing this number into the 13.376MWhr per mile, gives us approximately 428. That's how many American homes can go "off-grid" for every mile of 4-lane Solar Roadway. We can wean ourselves off coal. Again, that's based on four hours of sunlight per day.

The TED Talk below tells more of their story and how this came about.

I will post more about this great project later this fall when the Phase II Prototype is complete. 

I am very grateful to the Brusaw's for their patience in getting this project off the ground and for their endurance in standing firm when many told them that their great idea could not be done. 

If you love this project too, they could always use more volunteers!

Scott and Julie Brusaw and the textured prototype glass.