In 2009, Solar Roadways received a contract from the Federal Highway Administration to build a crude prototype Solar Road Panel.
Using conservative calculations, Solar Roadways found that replacing asphalt roads with solar roadway panels could produce more than three times the electricity that we currently use in the United States. The “lower 48” could produce just about enough electricity to supply the entire world.
Then there are the environmental benefits: Elimination of fossil fuel plants used to generate electricity will halve CO2 emissions known to be contributing to the climate crisis. Providing a means to recharge all-electric cars anywhere along the roadside will open the door for the elimination of the internal combustion engine, which accounts for most of the other half of the CO2 emissions. With internal combustion engines obsolete, our dependence on oil—foreign or domestic—will finally be over.
Conclusion: For roughly the same cost as the current system (asphalt roads and fossil fuel-burning electricity generation plants), solar roadways can be implemented that would pay for themselves over time. No more global warming. No more power outages. Safer driving conditions. Far less pollution. A new, secure highway infrastructure that pays for itself. A decentralized, self-healing, secure power grid. No more dependency on foreign oil.
The real question may be: What will be the cost if we don’t implement this more and more supported solution?
Read more about solar roadway panels athttp://www.solarroadways.com/numbers.shtml.