Solar Roadways is inching closer and closer to reality

Going green is one of the ways that can go about to help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, but it is a seemingly slow effort. We have seen attempts to make going green more widespread, like glow in the dark highways that can help reduce the need for street lights, but what about installing solar panels into the road itself? The project is called Solar Roadways and was actually concocted back in 2010 by a husband-and-wife team, Scott and Julie Brusaw, but four years later, it looks like their somewhat outlandish plan back then is starting to become a reality. 

Here’s an idea crazy enough that it just might work: Pave the streets with solar-powered panels that have their own built-in heat and LED lights. That’s what Scott and Julie Brusaw hope to accomplish with their ongoing Solar Roadways project, which they just funded through a hugely popular crowdfunding campaign. The husband-and-wife team has spent the better part of the last decade developing solar-powered modular panels that could be installed in roadways and parking lots, and would be able to collect power from the sun. Those panels could also keep streets clear of snow and ice, while illuminating them with LEDs. Rather than paving streets and driveways with asphalt, the Solar Roadways panels would theoretically be able to decrease our nation’s dependence on fossil fuels by generating massive amounts of clean energy. Panels are made from ruggedized glass and connect to one another through a mesh network, so that even if one panel fails the system will notify repair crews that it needs to be replaced.