Quantcast
Channel: Acton Ford Blog | Your Acton, MA Ford Dealer
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 102

Solar Roadways – For A Sustainable Future

0
0

Roads are extremely abundant. So essential to our transportation and the infrastructure of America that  there are currently 4.09 million miles of road in the United States, according to the Federal Highway Administration. The annual upkeep of such a network of asphalt is immense, and environmental stress and use disintegrates it at a fast pace. Road condition treatments like salt destroy our water supplies, cars, and roads but are currently a must in many northern states. Scott Brusaw and his wife have developed an extremely innovative solution to take America’s infrastructure and economy to the next level: Solar Roadways.

What are solar roadways?

Solar roadways are roads assembled out of octagonal platforms compromised of the materials pictured above. The first layer is made from a 100 year old glass technology called “tempered glass”. This glass is extremely durable and can withstand massive loads and stresses produced by traffic. It is specifically textured to produce the required friction for safe and reliable stops, and is translucent, allowing solar energy to travel through. The second layer is an LED module to allow flexible road marking rendering painted asphalt obsolete. Using these LEDs the road can be programmed for the most efficient lane travel and can warn drivers of upcoming hazards such as wildlife and construction. The next layer is the chip-set module that can be programmed for different LED patterns. The last layer is assembled from recycled waste to provide a suitable platform for the octagon. Together all these layers make up a solar road way. If one octagon is malfunctioning, it can be easily replaced, allowing for quick, cheap maintenance.

What are the benefits?

To modernize our roadways, it would take a massive labor force, creating thousands of jobs to our unemployed citizens. Although the initial investment might seem monstrous, replacing our entire road system with solar roadways would generate THREE TIMES the energy the United States uses. This would provide a huge surplus of clean, renewable energy solving our exhaustible resources crisis. Power plants that poison our atmosphere and water was would be rendered obsolete as well. Electric powered cars would become much more practical, with charging stations made easily abundant by the grid of solar powered octagons. Heated prototypes are also capable of melting snow and allowing for cheap and easy road conditioning without the use of salt a plow trucks. Using the heated octagons in cold climates would also allow motorcycle travel in the winter and safer road travel in general. The list just doesn’t seem to end.

So are we looking at a world littered with electric powered roads? Might seem like science fiction to some, or the future to others. Let us know what your take is in the comment box below!


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 102

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images