“Take Me Home, Solar Roads. Best Solar Panels to Drive on!”
Posted by admin on Sep 15, 2009
Scott Brusaw, an electrical engineer from Sagle, Idaho, USA, was a kid when he first envisioned “electric roads”. Today, decades later, he and his wife Julie run an organization called Solar Roadways (TM) to make his dream reality
Solar Roadways is planning to establish a decentralized, secure, intelligent, self-healing power grid based on the best solar panels for that purpose. Solar Roadways now has been rewarded a DOT (Department of Transportation) contract that will enable them to prototype the first ever Solar Road Panel, the only and best solar panels for roads.
Scott Brusaw explains the concept of Solar Roadways (TM)
Scott and Julie Brusaw have calculated, that Solar Roadway will pay for itself through the generation of electricity. Based on very conservative numbers, where the used best solar panels have an efficiency of only 15% (for comparison: the best solar panels available have efficiencies of 40%), solar roadways could generate threetimes the electricity that is currently used in the United States.
One plate of the best solar panels for roads, called Solar Road Panels (TM), is supposed to have the size of 12 ft x 12 ft (4 m x 4m) and to consist of 3 layers:
1. The road surface layer is translucent to let sunlight shine through on the solar panel. At the same time it is weatherproof to protect the electronics layer below, it can bear heaviest loads and it is rough to provide great traction even when it is wet.
2. The electronics layer consists of arrays of different cells and a microprocessor. The solar collecting cells convert sunlight into electricity, which is stored by “Super” / “Ultra” Caps. LEDs in the layer “paint” the road surface with road marking, traffic signs and actual warning signs. The LEDs can even illuminate the entire panel. A microprocessor controled communications device is built in every single panel. The micorprocessor also controls lighting, monitoring and heating of the panels. The heating keeps the solar road free of ice and snow in nothern climates.
3. The base plate layer distributes the power, collected from the best solar panels in the electronics layer, and data signals like phone, TV and internet to the homes and businesses that are connected to the solar roadway. It is weatherproof to protect the electronics layer above it.
It may take some years to see roads floored with best solar panels, but Scott and Julie Brusaw’s solar road panels are a good start and a possible way to cut greenhouse gases in half and get rid of dependency on foreign oil. For more information click http://www.solarroadways.com
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