Environment & Energy

xchrom

(108,903 posts) Fri Jul 11, 2014, 05:36 AM Jul 2014

inventor pushes solar panels for roads, highways

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SOLAR_ROADWAYS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-07-11-03-29-31

In this May 2014, photo provided by Solar Roadways, Scott and Julie Brusaw stand for a photo on a prototype solar-panel parking area at their company's business in Sandpoint, Idaho. Scott Brusaw's idea for solar-powered roads has gone viral and raised more than $1.4 million in crowdsourced funding. Brusaw is proposing to pave driveways, parking lots, bike trails and, eventually, highways with hexagon-shaped solar panels that will produce electricity and could even propel electric cars. (AP Photo/Solar Roadways)

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -- The solar panels that Idaho inventor Scott Brusaw has built aren't meant for rooftops. They are meant for roads, driveways, parking lots, bike trails and, eventually, highways.

Brusaw, an electrical engineer, says the hexagon-shaped panels can withstand the wear and tear that comes from inclement weather and vehicles, big and small, to generate electricity.

"We need to rebuild our infrastructure," said Brusaw, the head of Solar Roadways, based in Sandpoint, Idaho, about 90 miles northeast of Spokane, Washington. His idea contains "something for everyone to like."

"Environmentalists like it," he said. "Climate change deniers like it because it creates jobs."

5 replies

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inventor pushes solar panels for roads, highways (Original Post) xchrom Jul 2014 OP

I think building solar arrays alongside or over the highways would be cheaper Kaleva Jul 2014 #1

or down the medians- no land ownership rights to get in the way nationalize the fed Jul 2014 #2

The US has many thousands of miles of interstate highways... Kaleva Jul 2014 #4

This is extraordinarily bad idea. longship Jul 2014 #3

Good or bad anything deserves a try to get us out of littlemissmartypants Jul 2014 #5

Kaleva

(36,333 posts)

1. I think building solar arrays alongside or over the highways would be cheaper

Reply to xchrom (Original post)

Fri Jul 11, 2014, 07:03 AM

Jul 2014

Such as shown in this pic:

nationalize the fed

(2,169 posts)

2. or down the medians- no land ownership rights to get in the way

Reply to Kaleva (Reply #1)

Fri Jul 11, 2014, 08:12 AM

Jul 2014

It's great that people are thinking outside the box but solar roadways are a big bad idea. No matter what they're made of the daily grind will require almost constant maintenance. And imagine a snowplow or 20. Every time a section needs service or replacement the highway shuts down.

Could start with tunnels-

Figure 3: The German Unity Motorway Planning and Construction Company constructed a 2.8-megawatt (MW) solar array on the roof of a 2.7 km long noise-barrier tunnel on the A3 highway near Aschaffenburg, Germany.
Photo source: www.ralos.de

The 104kW solar highway along the interchange of Interstate 5 and I-205 near Tualatin, Oregon in December 2008.

Kaleva

(36,333 posts)

4. The US has many thousands of miles of interstate highways...

Reply to nationalize the fed (Reply #2)

Fri Jul 11, 2014, 08:27 AM

Jul 2014

where putting in place solar arrays wouldn't be an issue because of the already existing right of ways.

longship

(40,416 posts)

3. This is extraordinarily bad idea.

Reply to xchrom (Original post)

Fri Jul 11, 2014, 08:27 AM

Jul 2014

Putting solar panels ON a roadway is really stupid. Anybody who takes this seriously is delusional for the reasons given in other posts here. Maintenance will be a nightmare. Damage to the panels is inevitable. And the traffic on the roadway BLOCKS the solar energy, reducing the power generation. Just because one can do something does not make it a good idea.

littlemissmartypants

(22,747 posts)

5. Good or bad anything deserves a try to get us out of

Reply to xchrom (Original post)

Fri Jul 11, 2014, 08:12 PM

Jul 2014

The mess we are in. Remember Edison.

Love, Peace and Shelter.

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