Topic Tuesday #97 2014/05/27 "Solar Roads?"

It sounds like something from a sci-fi. "Solar Roads" where you ride the light or something fantastic. The reality is more down to earth, and more nuanced than the headlines hyperbole suggests. 

It comes as no surprise with all that asphalt out there, baking in the sun and hazing the air, that someone would think that if they could harness that energy in a meaningful way that they could really make a difference. It is a lot of surface area, and would have a lot of issues making a change. Let's get real for a second, it's unlikely, even in the best case scenario, that a solar panel roadway is going to be around any time soon. As a friend of mine put it, "pie in the sky"...

I suggested that if it was only a solar panel you could drive on, it would not be as compelling as the actual proposition. It would end up as only a headline garnering bullet point. Like this:

• Solar energy collection
• LED lighting for lines and text for driver information. Imagine a road that can alert you of issues up ahead or route you on a different course, or tell your car it is out of its lane.
• Active feedback to authorities of traffic speed and road conditions.
• Segmented structure will allow easy "patching" by replacing the damaged sections.
• Heating elements to melt snow and ice buildup.
• Communications cables like phone, TV, and internet. 
• Municipal potable water.
• Natural Gas.
• Sanitary sewers.
• Stormwater runoff.
• And future technology, that will all be easily deployed under our roadways, sidewalks, and parking lots.

In closing, yes... It's expensive, but as with many things, it would be a long term investment that has the potential to save time and resources far into the future. It would be best to use this in highly planned developments first, to thoroughly prove its usefulness while understanding that as demand increases, so will availability as cost decreases. This will not solve the energy issues until it is widely adopted and retrofit into communities and freeways, so more conventional approaches are more possible at this time. Especially if you just want the promise of limitless energy from the solar roads of tomorrow land.