A super-charged highway! Solar-powered road could one day charge cars and even power homes

To date, solar panels have been installed in a host of locations, from roofs to open fields.

One bit of infrastructure that has yet to be exploited though is perhaps also the largest in total area that covers Earth – the roads our cars drive on.

But a company in Idaho is hoping to change all that by creating ‘Solar Roadways’ that not only provide power but also create smart digital driving surfaces as well, the Daily Mail reports. 

Co-founders Scott and Julie Brusaw are currently seeking for their ambitious proposal on Indiegogo.

They have developed a small segment of solar-powered road to prove their concept works.

And they’re hoping to one day roll it out on roads through the US and ultimately the rest of the world in their bid to provide a novel method of accessing green energy.

Scott and Julie explain that their design has a number of uses.

First is obviously the ability to harness the power of the sun – they say, if installed nationwide in the US, their roads could provide more renewable energy than the entire energy the country uses.

This electricity can be transferred to nearby buildings, neighborhoods and cities, and they claim it can also charge electric cars.
The innovative additional features that have also garnered a lot of interest.

The LEDs within the layer, powered by the sun, would allow the surface to become ‘smart roads’.

These can be controlled remotely and light up to provide guidance to drivers – some could warn of upcoming hazards, or others could reallocate spaces in a car park, for example.

The panels also contain heating elements that will instantly melt snow and ice that falls onto them.

The heating elements, however, are powered by the regular electricity grid, which the Solar Roadways would be connected to.

Solar Roadways estimates there is about 31,000 square miles (80,000 square kilometres) of usable road surfaces in the US that could be converted into solar-powered roads.

In 2009 they received a contract from the Federal Highway Administration to build the prototype.

But now they are hoping for $1 million (£590,000) in funding from Indiegogo in order to begin mass production of the road.

HOW THE SOLAR ROAD WORKS

The prototype road involves the use of inter-connected hexagons, each in turn made of 10% recycled glass.

Each hexagon has four layers, with the technology inside providing solar functionality.

At the bottom is a base layer of recyclable materials, such as glass, that is placed on the ground.

Above this is the support structure, which has circuitry embedded into it, and on top of these are LED lights.

Within the circuitry layer can also be found the solar cells, which collect light from the sun and convert it into useful electricity.

And finally, on top is a reinforced glass layer with traction support for vehicles, which can support trucks up to 250,000 pounds (115,000 kilograms).