In what could be a $56 trillion project, a new plan to revolutionize America’s roads gets an A+ for ambition and scope. It’s still working through the growing pains of a necessary but lengthy testing phase, but if all goes to plan, it will convert roads into power generators spanning mind-boggling distances across states. Whether or not it’s feasible is the big question, but here’s how it could happen.<\/p>\n
A start-up in the gem state of Idaho has a dollar and a dream, but it could need trillions of dollars for a dream this big. Solar Roadways is looking to test the outer limits<\/a> of what can be accomplished with solar technology as it attempts to convert America’s roads into power generators, and they’re hoping to start with an iconic motorway.<\/p>\n Founded in 2006 by husband-and-wife team Scott and Julie Brusaw, Solar Roadways is looking to create what the name suggests: roadways that double as solar panels.<\/strong> The way they’re hoping to pull this off is with their hexagonal road concept, which uses a firm, transparent glass surface that vehicles would drive on.<\/p>\n Where are they hoping to test this concept, you ask? Only the most iconic road in the USA. That’s right, a small portion of Route 66 in Missouri is where the idea could be flighted. But first, panels were installed on a walkway at Jeff Jones Town Square in Sandpoint, Idaho, back in 2016.<\/p>\n The start-up’s project doesn’t stop at solar panels, as the team has also suggested that roads would replace painted road strips with LEDs, have heaters capable of melting layers of ice, and even be connected to the grid to power surrounding homes. <\/strong><\/p>\n Tom Blair, an engineer for Missouri’s Department of Transportation (MoDOT), stated,<\/p>\n “Solar roadways can hopefully create new revenue streams. If their version of the future is realistic, roadways can begin paying for themselves”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The first phase of the project saw the panels installed closer to Solar Roadway’s home in Sandpoint<\/a>, with a small 150 square-foot installation serving as the pilot program to test feasibility. They then upgraded the walkway in Missouri as part of the state’s “Road to Tomorrow” drive.<\/p>\n It’s estimated that achieving the long-term dream of converting all of America’s roads into futuristic solar panel roads could cost as much as $56 trillion, though that number could drop significantly as solar technology becomes cheaper to manufacture. It would also take an incredible amount of time and labor.<\/strong><\/p>\n The USA has millions of miles of roads. Converting all of them would take a huge workforce and potentially decades. It would also be pretty inconvenient as nationwide construction would affect all areas of life. That said, Leonardo Da Vinci may never have seen a helicopter fly, but he did envision one centuries ahead of time.<\/p>\n The project has been criticized as being far too lofty to ever see the light of day. It can be argued that the concept would be better served when building a new city or expanding the outer limits of existing cities.<\/strong> The idea of converting asphalt roads into solar roadways is a bit over the top, but the idea is certainly promising.<\/p>\n The global push towards renewable energy is only decades old, but already solar panels<\/a> and electric vehicles have become commonplace. In the mid-twentieth century, the concepts would surely have been laughed at. In that spirit, perhaps skepticism towards the ambitions of Solar Roadways is unwarranted. It may seem crazy, but technology is evolving quicker than we can all adapt to. Perhaps one day, the roads will be our fuel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In what could be a $56 trillion project, a new plan to revolutionize America’s roads gets an A+ for ambition and scope. It’s still working through the growing pains of a necessary but lengthy testing phase, but if all goes to plan, it will convert roads into power generators spanning mind-boggling distances across states. Whether … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4961,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Just how feasible are solar roadways?<\/h2>\n
Flying too close to the sun?<\/h3>\n
Today’s dreams, tomorrow’s reality<\/h2>\n