Power Systems Design has an interview with Scott Brusaw, an Idaho-based green inventor whose firm Solar Roadways believes it can make the U.S. energy independent by revamping the U.S. road system to collect and route energy intelligently along the U.S. highways.
Brusaw’s plan is to replace the existing asphalt and concrete road surfaces with solar panels. The inventor has worked with experts at the top U.S. universities to create road glass that can be made cost-effectively. The green road has all the necessary traction capabilities comparable to asphalt required for a tough, durable, cost-competitive roadway system. It can also collect and route energy from the sun to industry and households alike.
When asked in the article, how much power can be expected from one mile of road, the inventor explained, “One mile = 5280 feet. Our Solar Road Panels are 12 feet by 12 feet (3.66 x 3.66m). Therefore, it will take 5280/12 = 440 panels to create one mile (one lane, 12 feet wide). The inventor calculates that each panel will produce 7600Wh of electricity daily based on 15% efficiency and four hours of sunlight per day. He continues that, 440 x 7600Wh = 3.344MWhr per lane per mile. So a typical four lane highway will produce 13.376MWhr per mile, based on four hours of sunlight per day.
Brusaw extrapolates that 428 typical U.S. homes could go off-grid for every mile of a 4-lane Solar Roadway. “According to a 2007 study by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average American home used 936kWh per month. Dividing this number by 30 will give an average need of 31.2kWh per day. Dividing this number into the 13.376MWhr per mile gives us approximately 428. That’s how many American homes can go “off-grid” for every mile of 4-lane Solar Roadway.”
The Solar Roadways website predicts that replacing all the roadways in the lower 48 U.S. states with their product could produce 13,961 billion Kilowatt-hours annually.That amount is slightly less than the 2003 global electrical consumption of 14,768 billion Kilowatt-hours. The firm predicts the green tech could cut half of the greenhouse gases being produced.
Solar Roadways claims all of this can be had for roughly the same cost as the current systems (roads and fossil fuel burning electricity generation plants). According to the website and unlike the current system, the Solar Roadways can pay for itself over time.
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If the technology really works, in the northern half of the country as they claim (they are developing in Idaho) it seems like a good idea. We all know what happens to good ideas in Washington, so let’s count the big lobbying interests (and their bribes campaign donations) this would piss off in DC
- Coal
- Oil
- Telecom
- Concrete
- Asphalt
While the green factor and the energy independence are important off-shoots of this product, the result of this technology will be the end of shoveling my driveway.
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
