Solar Roadways

This article is about the company. For general discussion of this concept, see Smart highway.
Solar Roadways Inc
Startup
Founded 2006 (2006)
Founder
  • Scott Brusaw
  • Julie Brusaw
Headquarters 721 Pine Street,
Sandpoint, Idaho 83864,
United States [1]
Website solarroadways.com

Solar Roadways Incorporated is a startup company based in Sandpoint, Idaho, that is developing solar powered road panels to form a smart highway. Their technology combines a transparent driving surface with underlying solar cells, electronics and sensors to act as a solar array with programmable capability. Solar Roadways Inc is working to develop and commercially produce road panels which are made from recycled materials and incorporate photovoltaic cells.[2]

History

Solar Roadway panel prototypes

In 2006, the company was founded by Scott and Julie Brusaw, with Scott as President and CEO. The company envisioned replacing asphalt surfaces with structurally-engineered solar panels capable of withstanding vehicular traffic."[3] The proposed system would require the development of strong, transparent, and self-cleaning glass that has the necessary traction and impact-resistance properties.[4]

In 2009, Solar Roadways received a $100,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the Department of Transportation (DOT) for Phase I to determine the feasibility of the proposed project.[5] In 2011, Solar Roadways received $750,000 SBIR grant from the DOT for Phase II to develop and build a solar parking lot.[6] The DOT distinguishes the technology proposed by Solar Roadways Inc. as "Solar Power Applications in the Roadway," as compared to a number of other solar technologies categorized by the DOT as "Solar Applications along the Roadway."[7] From SBIR grant money, Solar Roadways has built a 12-by-36-foot (3.7 by 11.0 m) parking lot covered with hexagonal glass-covered solar panels sitting on top of a concrete base, which are heated to prevent snow and ice accumulation, and also include LEDs to illuminate road lines and display messages. The hexagonal shape allows for better coverage on curves and hills. According to the Brusaws, the panels can sustain a 250,000 lb (110,000 kg) load.[8]

In April 2014, Solar Roadways started a crowdfunding drive at Indiegogo to raise money so they can get the product into production. In May, it was extended by another 30 days. The campaign raised 2.2 million dollars, exceeding its target of 1 million dollars.[9] The drive became Indiegogo’s most popular campaign ever in terms of the number of backers it has attracted.[10] The success was attributed in part to a Tweet made by George Takei, who played Sulu on Star Trek, due to his more than 8 million followers.[11][12] One of the Brusaws’ videos went viral, with over 20 million views as of November 2015.[12][13]

In November 2015, the USDOT awarded Solar Roadways a Phase IIB SBIR contract to further their research. The 2-year $750,000 award includes additional civil engineering tests including freeze/thaw cycling, moisture conditioning, shear testing, and advanced loading.

Planned and Potential Capabilities

Hardness

Glass is 4.5 - 6.5 on the Mohs Hardness Scale, Asphalt is 1 - 2. Diamond is a 10. This hardness, by comparison, is like comparing Aluminum, which is used in the manufacture of airframes, to Talc, which is weak enough that you could crush some with your fingernail.[14] Tempered Glass is not harder than standard glass, but is 4-5 times stronger, being used as bullet and blast-resistant glass.

Higher Traction

Solar Roadway panels are able to be completely customized to the required application. Currently there are two texture designs, a semi-smooth surface designed for walking and transportation methods that utilize small wheels, as well as a rougher surface designed specifically for highway use. The former design can stop a car traveling 40 mph within the required distance, and the highway design can stop a car going 80 mph within the required distance.[15] One texture design that was tested, proved to have too much traction and tore the boot from a university civil engineering lab's British Pendulum Skid Resistance Tester.[16] With their new "SR3" panels, customized decals may be added to the center of each panel, which may slightly affect the overall traction of the panel.[17]

High Load Capacity

Initially, the panels were going to be designed to support 80,000 lbs (40 tons), but they were told by a logging truck driver, that his truck had once topped out at 124,000 lbs (62 tons) so they shot toward 150,000 lbs (75 tons). Finally, they found that sometimes oil companies get authorization to move up to 230,000 lbs (115 tons) of equipment so they increased their target to 250,000 lbs (125 tons). This is enough to support up to two A1M1 Abrams Tanks. Both the 3D Finite Element Method and a Civil Engineering Lab determined that the panels can withstand this and more.[16]

Snow and Water Management

The panels contain low power heating elements which keep the temperature above 32° F (0° C), very similar to how an immersion heater would keep an animal's watering trough thawed. In turn, this prevents snow and ice buildup, which removes the requirement of using plows, chemicals, or sand to provide traction, thus decreasing city expenditure on the annual snow budget. Because they generate electricity to, at least partially when cloudy, heat themselves, what money would have gone into heating the roads is also reduced significantly.[18] Additionally, there is a "Cable Corridor" running along the road which has a drain-water management system which can deposit snowmelt or stormwater below the frost line, bring it to a treatment facility, or deposit the liquid into existing drainage systems.[19]

Electrical Generation

Scott and Julie made extremely conservative calculations, that if the US road system was covered with their SR2 panels, they could produce at least 14,085 Billion Kilowatt-hours in one year (based upon their latitude).[20] Their SR2 Panel was able to generate approximately 302.506MWh per year per lane mile, enough to remove 86 homes from the grid on a 2 lane road. Their SR3 Panels are able to generate roughly 1/3 more energy than the SR2 Panels.[15][17] The United States used 3,937.003 Billion Kilowatt-hours in 2014.[21]

Pressure Sensitivity

Each panel contains several load sensors, which can detect if a vehicle is stalled out or parked, if boulders have fallen onto the road, or if an animal or pedestrian is crossing the road, utilizing the LEDs to alert drivers to potential hazards.[22] They also have the potential to weigh every truck in a weigh station's queue simultaneously.

Piezoelectric Sensors

Piezoelectric technology is a major possibility for these panels. This technology converts a percentage of energy from people running, walking, biking, and driving over the panels into electricity, boosting the output slightly and regardless of the time.

Thermocouples

Thermocouple technology converts temperature differentiation into energy, providing the potential to utilize the weather as means to generate further energy output.

Illuminated Roadway

Each panel has a series of LEDs that can display lane markings, warnings of wildlife, fallen rock, and accidents. As long as the vehicle is correctly equipped, Solar Roadway panels could also display driving directions in front of the vehicle, redirecting the driver around traffic.[23] The lane markings can even be programmed to "move" along your vehicle at the speed limit so you know if you are traveling too fast or slow. Additionally, parking lots, lanes, parade "barriers", and sports courts can be programmed in specific ways at specific times, or, in a parking lot's case, change automatically if all available handicap spots are taken.[24]

Highly Visible in Daylight

LEDs are used in many applications, such as Digital Billboards, Emergency Vehicle Lighting, Aviation Lighting and Instruments, and even many automotive brake-lights, signal-lights, and headlights. Because of this, the lanes, warnings, and signage are likely to be highly visible during daylight.[25]

Variable Auto-Brightness

The panels have built in Photoresistors, which determine exterior brightness and can adjust the panel brightness according to needs, much like auto-brightness on a cellphone would increase brightness as ambient light increases, and decrease brightness as ambient light decreases.[24][26]

Decreased Maintenance Cost and Time

The panels are designed to be hotswapped if a unit is damaged. This means that a serviceman can load a panel into his truck, travel to the repair site, remove the damaged unit, and replace it with the functional panel. The damaged unit can then be brought to a repair depot to be remanufactured.[16][22] Asphalt, however, gets worn down and swept away by traffic, preventing reuse of any original materials.

Lifespan

The panels are being designed to last a minimum of 20 years. Solar Cells can last up to 30 years before efficiency suffers.[16]

Anti-theft Mechanism

The panels communicate with one another wirelessly to report if a panel is malfunctioning or disconnected and moving when it shouldn't be. This would allow law enforcement to trace a stolen panel and, in turn, the thief.[22]

Cable & Utility Management

The owner of a section of road (e.g. the city, a community, a company, or an individual) could lease space within the cable corridor to Cable, Internet, Phone, and power companies, moving the cables into a place where they will never be cut or damaged by digging crews, falling trees, or lightning.[15][27]

Decentralized Power Grid

A Centralized Power Grid pulls power from one or more power stations outward to homes and other locations that require power. This method of power distribution allows power to be disrupted in large areas if a single power pole is damaged. A Decentralized Power Grid, such as Solar Roadways, allows power to be easily routed around a breakage, preventing power disruptions and outages. It can also be a "Smart Grid", allowing power supply and generation to be higher priority in certain locations and times, additionally permitting power to be redirected to other locations as necessary.[27]

Infrastructure for Autonomous Vehicles

Because each unit is linked to a fixed location, and they have communication chips, they can form a highly accurate Local Positioning System which can inform the vehicle exactly where it, the lane markings, and surrounding vehicles are. This reduces the dependency of Autonomous Vehicles on satellite Global Positioning Systems.[22]

Charging for Electric Vehicles

Having Power Cables running along the length of any road or parking surface provides a great infrastructure for Electric Vehicles. It would provide the requirements for high Amperage Charging stations, such as Tesla Superchargers to be installed at any parking stall, gas station, or rest stop.[22] Mutual induction charging would be another potential option, allowing a vehicle that was correctly retrofitted to charge while on the road.

Highway Wi-Fi & Cell service

Internet and Cellular providers could pay to place Leaky Cables along the road in the cable corridor, boosting Cellular and Wi-Fi reception in places that would normally get little to no signal.[15]

Increased Traffic Monitoring/Management

Solar Road Panels would be able to monitor and report traffic conditions to mapping websites (E.G. Google Maps, Mapquest, Etc.), GPS Traffic Radios, and news station's traffic teams. They can also more efficiently command stoplights to begin changing as traffic is approaching, and command them to turn green (and red for intersecting roads) along the route that emergency services would be taking.[24][23]

Increased National Security

The decentralized power grid these panels would provide makes it virtually impossible for terrorists to entirely cut power to a specific location as power would be routed around the break. Hazmat Trucks and other vehicles can be tracked in the event of a hijacking, and vehicles being chased by the police can be monitored, allowing Police to plan their move. It also decreases the need for nuclear plants and other power generation facilities, reducing the dangers of plant malfunctions. In addition, Dependency on Fossil Fuels is reduced, decreasing chances of wars over Fossil Fuels.[27]

Feasibility

In 2014, doubt was expressed regarding the political feasibility of the project on a national scale by Jonathan Levine, a professor of urban planning at the University of Michigan. He suggested, however, that a single town might be able to deploy the concept in a limited test case such as a parking lot.[28]

Sebastian Anthony wrote in ExtremeTech that the cost to replace all roads in the United States with Solar Roadways panels would come to approximately $56 trillion, based on Scott Brusaw's cost estimate of $10,000 for a 12×12-foot section.[29] The company's website rebutted that amount, saying the $10,000 cost was an estimate of what would be required to achieve cost parity with asphalt roads, and that the actual cost per panel was still unknown.[30]

Dr Roy Spencer criticized the claim that the solar panels in winter will use the energy they generate to melt snowfall. This is completely contrary to the first law of thermodynamics which states that the total energy of a system is constant. Solar energy when hitting asphalt is absorbed and converted into heat, to melt snow that would not be melted by asphalt using solar energy would require producing more heat energy than the energy generated by the solar cell, requiring breaking the law of conservation of energy. [31]

List of awards and honors

See also

References

  1. ↑ "About". Solar Roadways.
  2. ↑ Scott, Cameron (May 22, 2014). "Following the Solar Brick Road". SingularityHUB. Singularity University.
  3. ↑ "Solar Roadways: Company Information". Small Business Innovation Research.
  4. ↑ "Driving on Glass Solar Roads". Scientific American. October 6, 2009. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Solar Roadways: Phase I Grant". Small Business Innovation Research.
  6. ↑ "Solar Roadways: Phase II Grant". Small Business Innovation Research.
  7. ↑ "Alternative Uses of Highway Right-of-Way". Federal Highway Administration.
  8. ↑ Barry, Keith (May 8, 2014). "This Parking Lot Is Paved with Solar Panels". Wired. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Solar Roadways". Indiegogo. June 20, 2014.
  10. ↑ "The Centuries-Old Technology Behind Solar Roadways, Indiegogo's Most Popular Campaign Ever". Forbes. June 3, 2014.
  11. ↑ Maben, Scott (May 31, 2014). "Star Trek: George Takei tweet boosts Solar Roadways". Christian Science Monitor. Associated Press. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  12. 1 2 "On the not so sunny side of the street". The Economist. June 5, 2014.
  13. ↑ Solar FREAKIN' Roadways!. YouTube. May 18, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Material Hardness Tables, Ted Pella, Inc.". www.tedpella.com. Retrieved 2015-12-12.
  15. 1 2 3 4 "R&D - SolarRoadways". www.solarroadways.com. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "Specifics - SolarRoadways: Glass Surface". www.solarroadways.com. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  17. 1 2 "Solar Roadways - Timeline Photos | Facebook: SR3 Panels w/ Logos". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  18. ↑ "Specifics - SolarRoadways: Heating Elements". www.solarroadways.com. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  19. ↑ "Specifics - SolarRoadways: Water Management". www.solarroadways.com. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  20. ↑ "Specifics - SolarRoadways: Numerical Calculations". www.solarroadways.com. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  21. ↑ "Eia.gov BETA - Data - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 "Specifics - SolarRoadways: Electrical Components". www.solarroadways.com. Retrieved 2016-01-13.
  23. 1 2 "Features - SolarRoadways". www.solarroadways.com. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
  24. 1 2 3 "Specifics - SolarRoadways: LED Illumination". www.solarroadways.com. Retrieved 2016-01-14.
  25. ↑ "Solar Roadways - LEDs in the Sunlight | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  26. ↑ "Solar Roadways - Timeline Photos | Facebook: LEDs in Daylight - Comment: Light Sensor". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  27. 1 2 3 "Specifics - SolarRoadways: Solar Energy". www.solarroadways.com. Retrieved 2016-01-14.
  28. ↑ "We Could Build a Solar Powered Roadway. But Will We?". Popular Mechanics. June 11, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  29. ↑ Anthony, Sebastian (May 27, 2014). "Solar Roadways passes $1.4 million in crowdfunding: Just short of the $56 trillion required, but not bad for a crazy idea". ExtremeTech (Ziff Davis). Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  30. ↑ "Solar Roadways FAQ". Solar Roadways. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  31. ↑ "Solar Roadways Project: A Really Bad Idea". Dr Roy Spencer. Retrieved Jan 3, 2016.
  32. ↑ Mathas, Carolyn (February 23, 2009). "2009 EE Times ACE Awards finalists announced". EE Times. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
  33. ↑ "Solar Roadways named as finalist in most promising renewable energy award". Renewable Energy Magazine. March 16, 2010. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
  34. ↑ Parrish DuDell, Michael (August 8, 2011). "Paving the Solar Roadway to Success". ecoimagination.com. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
  35. ↑ "Scott & Julie Brusaw, Solar Roadways". The World Technology Network. 2013. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
  36. ↑ Seward, Aaron (2014). "Best of What's New: Solar Roadways". Popular Science. Retrieved January 6, 2015.

External links

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