FUTURE HIGHWAY?
- Financial Carrier Services
- Mar 31, 2015
- 3 min read
Have you ever thought about what the future highway might look like? Imagine a highway that never has pot holes, never has faded out road lines, and can melt the ice and snow. What about a highway that can detect danger and warn drivers before they get there. Why stop there? If we are dreaming of the perfect highway, it would also create clean cheap energy for houses and businesses. That would be too good to be true, but we are here to let you know that this perfect highway idea might not be so farfetched.
Solar Roadways started out as a dream for Julie and Scott Brusaw back in 2006. Through donations and hard work, their dream is getting closer to becoming a reality.
Asphalt is an outdated material we still use for roadways. It has been used in mass quantities since the early 1900s. That is over 100 years of using practically the same material for our road system! To put that in perspective, what if our cars or planes still looked the same as they did in the 1920s? We would still be hand cranking our car engines and our longest flight would last 30 minutes. That comparison shows you that we are way behind on road technology. Solar Roadways is looking to change that and bring the highway system into the 2000s.
The current material being placed over the solar panels is tempered glass. It is see through, weather proof, and it is more than strong enough to take the weight of commercial trucks.
Grip designs will be cut into the tempered glass to provide traction when stopping in all weather conditions.
The design is hexagonal to provide a simple installation system.
This is just one hexagon, but when they are combined it looks like the picture found bellow.
This picture shows the first prototype. By linking all the hexagons together, you can create a roadway.
The hexagons can communicate through computer chips, which allows you to monitor them from a single location.
The lights can be programed to make road lines, warning signs, parking lot layouts; the possibilities are endless.
Are you starting to see the potential of the solar roadways?
Do not forget that each hexagon is a solar panel! The thing you drive on every day could be creating energy. This energy would provide a cleaner, more sustainable environment. If you do not care about the environment, then focus on that fact that solar panels will create cheaper energy bills for everyone.
Are solar roadways the future of the highway...? I am not sure, but it does look like a great start on coming up with a better alternative to the roads we are currently using. Installing in parking lots and driveways will likely be the next step for them. They have a lot of testing to do and changes to make, but it is so close to becoming a reality. If you wish to help the cause, you can donate here.
Check out this video for a quick history and how you can help.
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