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"Solar Roadways"

We all have the experience of driving down, and walking on, roads. They are typically dirty, and hot. They represent sources of both eye pollution and real pollution.

But watch this video and it cleverly suggests that, why not replace those dirty awful road surfaces with nice, clean, hi-tech surfaces that do something useful (generate electricity)?


"Solar Roadways" is a modular paving system of solar panels that can withstand the heaviest of trucks (250,000 pounds). These Solar Road Panels can be installed on roads, parking lots, driveways, sidewalks, bike paths, playgrounds… literally any surface under the sun. They pay for themselves primarily through the generation of electricity, which can power homes and businesses connected via driveways and parking lots. A nationwide system could produce more clean renewable energy than a country uses as a whole.

They have many other features as well, including: heating elements to stay snow/ice free, LEDs to make road lines and signage, and attached Cable Corridor to store and treat stormwater and provide a “home” for power and data cables.

EVs will be able to charge with energy from the sun (instead of fossil fuels) from parking lots and driveways and after a roadway system is in place, mutual induction technology will allow for charging while driving.

Sustainable solutions are a requirement to modern design problems due to society’s overreliance on natural resources for everything from energy generation to transportation infrastructure. In order to come up with these solutions it is important for creativity to be a focus of design, as clearly the traditional practices are lacking and new ideas are required. One
such example of this is the design of solar road panels; a modular road panel that is also a functioning solar photovoltaic panel.
The idea behind solar road panels is quite simple in theory; through the issues associated with urban heat islands it is known that pavements are often exposed to a vast amount of solar radiation throughout the day. If it were possible to extract a portion of this energy, we could begin to simultaneously solve civil and electrical infrastructure issues through the implementation of new sustainable technologies.
Two methods have been developed to accomplish energy generation from roads before; using asphalt pavement as a solar thermal collector and installing piezoelectric generators to collect vibration energy from the traffic load on the pavement. Recent studies have also begun to use thermoelectric systems to extract heat energy from roads and directly convert it to electricity.
This project is taking a different approach to the concept as, through photovoltaics, the solar radiation is directly converted into electricity on the surface of the panel without a heat or vibration conversion.
This project is not the only instance where a solar road panel is currently being developed as similar projects are underway at Solar Roadways in the USA [1] and TNO in the Netherlands ,Where this project does differ is in the design approach being used; following a methodological
research approach backed from experience in civil, mechanical, and electrical disciplines. There is also an end-result focus on examining the issues these panels would face in a Canadian
climate; freeze-thaw cycling, snow accumulation and removal, and salt-based winter road maintenance programs.