Article: Solar roads are more practical than they sound [View all]

[Benton D Struckcheon]

I'm still skeptical myself, and didn't contribute to their Indiegogo campaign, but I have to admit their FAQ does cover all the bases, and it's just possible they might have something here:

Solar roads are more practical than they sound

"The solar roadway is a terrible idea" writes Scott Torchinsky at Jalopnik, citing the views of David Forbes, an engineer who works with radio telescopes. Forbes worries about the cost, citing the fact that solar cells and LEDsare both highly expensive, while plain asphalt is cheap. He worries about the durability of the surface and whether the roads' displays could be hacked. He cites the fact that less sunlight will be absorbed by the cells than in a typical solar panel, as the glass is four times thicker. He even argues that driving at speed over the surface could result in a high-pitched whining sound.
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But the really strange thing about a lot of this rampant criticism is that Solar Roadways aren't really dependent on unproven technology, the way the Wright brothers' attempts at powered flight were. It's not like Scott and Julie Brusaw have claimed they can invent human teleportation. Tempered glass technology already exists, and many large companies beside Solar Roadways are already spending lots of money researching even stronger glass technologies, like Sapphire Glass. The solar cells also already exist, and are rapidly decreasing in cost and increasing in efficiency. Advanced and highly efficient battery technologies for energy storage are emerging.
So this isn't some wild utopian fantasy founded on untested or undeveloped technology. This is a bringing together of existing technologies. Ambitious, yes, but the Brusaws' small protoype — built as part of a contract with the Federal Highways Agency — is already generating electricity. Their pictures show a tractor being driven over it, and load testing at civil engineering labs showed that the panels can handle more than 250,000 lbs, over three times the legal limit (80,000 lbs) for a semi-truck. Tests have shown their textured glass can stop a car going 80-mph on a wet surface. In that sense, their invention is already a success.
In our conversation, Scott Brusaw came across as a realist, not as someone who thinks the road (pun intended) will be easy. He tells me he expects there will be "issues to iron out" along the way. He expresses a sincere gratitude to everyone who donated to the campaign, telling me how excited it was to have "donations from all 50 states", and is quick to add that "the next phase is to hire engineers" to advance the project further. He knows that there's a heck of a lot more work and refining to be done — such as durability and safety testing, and, perhaps more importantly, developing manufacturing techniques to lower costs and increase efficiencies.

Good article that makes the case to give them a chance and see how this develops.