Frequently Asked Questions

What happens when a Solar Road Panel gets damaged or destroyed (lightning strike, overturned vehicles, earthquake, etc.)? Couldn't the Solar Roadways short out and leave us all in the dark?

No. Each Solar Road Panel will have electrical connections with something similar to a GFI (Ground Fault Interrupter - found in our homes to prevent us from being electrocuted if we drop a hair dryer in the bathtub). If too much current begins to flow (short circuit?), the electrical connection will be shut off, therefore isolating any damaged panels. On a larger scale - say a fuel truck explodes, completely severing the road in half - no one would lose power. All of the panels leading up to your home would still provide power. You may lose your cable TV or telephone (land line) until the road is repaired, but you'd still have power.

How much energy will be required to manufacture your Solar Road Panel? Won't this negate the environmental effect of your proposal?

That's a hard number to pin down at this point, but consider this: here in north Idaho, our power is supplied by hydroelectric dams. We're hoping to build the first Solar Road Panel manufacturing plant in Sandpoint, which has an outstanding rail system for distribution. Once the plant begins producing, the first Solar Road Panels to roll off the assembly line will be taken immediately out to the parking lot for installation. By the time the parking lot is finished, the plant will be off grid and energy self-sufficient. All subsequent manufacturing facility parking lots would be built out of pre-existing Solar Road Panels, making our carbon footprint as small as possible. Don't forget one of the main driving forces of the Solar Roadways: to drastically reduce/eliminate the carbon footprint of all businesses and individuals.

Won't traffic congestion or full parking lots make the Solar Roadways less efficient?

Any shade on a solar panel prevents it from producing at its maximum capacity. However, traffic or parked cars will have a negligible impact. For instance:

Traffic jam

This picture is from Orange County, CA during work traffic. The upper six lanes are what we'd refer to as "bumper to bumper" traffic. Even with this congestion, you can see how much of the road surface is still exposed to sunlight.

Full parking lot

This picture is Tyson's Corner in Virginia. Look at the parking lot, particularly the section on the curve. It appears that every parking space is filled on the curved section, but look at how much of the parking lot surface is still exposed to sunlight (not to mention all of the other road surfaces!). Get on Google Earth and zoom in to any road or area in any city. You'll find the same results.

Again, if we can produce three times more electricity than we've ever used, then only about a third of the Solar Road Panels need to be exposed to daylight. We have at least this much even in heavy traffic and full parking lots. Overall, I would imagine that traffic jams and full parking lots make up less than 1 percent of all surface areas. That's what we mean by their having a negligible impact on the Solar Roadway's overall efficiency.

Wouldn't it make more sense to just build canopies over the roads to hold the solar panels? Or just place solar panels on the north side of the roads, facing the sun? That way, we wouldn't have to be able to drive on them?

No. It would be incredibly expensive as you would still have to pay for our current road systems. We plan to use the money already budgeted for roads for the replacement Solar Roadways. If we still had to build current roads plus the canopies or side panels, the cost would likely be so high that taxes would have to be raised to cover it. You would also lose most of the features of the Solar Roadways, such as being lit by LEDs for safer night driving. The side panel idea would do nothing to keep the roads free of snow and ice, so northern cities would still have the removal expense and the accidents caused by the unsafe road conditions. Many of the other features would be lost too, such as saving the lives of millions of animals, a self-healing, decentralized power grid, all aspects of an intelligent road: reporting in with potential problems, reducing crime and terrorism, etc.

What are you going to do about traction? Cars slip and slide on wet asphalt, let alone wet glass. What's going to happen to the surface of the Solar Roadways when it rains?

Everyone naturally pictures sliding out of control on a smooth piece of wet glass! Actually, one of the many technical specs for the top layer is that it be textured to the point that it provides at least the traction that current asphalt roads offer - even in the rain. We hesitate to even call it glass, as it is far from a traditional window pane, but glass is what it is, so glass is what we must call it.

Scott attended a three day workshop called the International Workshop on Scientific Challenges for New Functionalities in Glass in Arlington, Virginia. He received quite an education in the properties and abilities of glass! Scott presented the Solar Roadways to an international audience of glass scientists. Afterward, he was invited to travel north and present the Solar Roadways project to Penn State University's Materials Research Institute. Scott had lunch with several of their research scientists after his presentation. By the end of the trip, Scott had been thoroughly convinced that the glass specs that he had presented would not pose any problems.

How are you going to keep the surface clean?

While at the International Workshop on Scientific Challenges for New Functionalities in Glass, Scott learned of a new technology: self-cleaning glass. From Wikipedia: Self-cleaning glass is a specific type of glass with a surface which keeps itself free of dirt and grime through natural processes. The glass cleans itself in two stages: the photocatalytic stage of the process breaks down the organic dirt on the glass using ultraviolet in sunlight (even on overcast days) and makes the glass hydrophilic (normally glass is hydrophobic). During the following hydrophilic state, rain washes away the dirt leaving almost no streaks, because hydrophilic glass spreads the water evenly over its surface.

It is yet to be seen if this process will be enough to keep the Solar Roadways operating under optimal performance (100% clean surfaces), but it will certainly put a dent in a potential problem. There will be some obvious obstacles such as oil spills, sandstorms, storm debris, etc. Here's the worst case scenario: if all else fails, we can replace snow plows with street sweepers (vehicles with large rotating brushes). They're used here in Idaho in the spring to clear the roads of the sand that was used for traction during the winter months. Again, this is worst case and only if the self-cleaning properties of the glass aren't enough to do the entire job.

How much power can you expect to get out of a one-mile stretch of road?

One mile = 5280 feet. Our Solar Road Panels are 12' by 12'. Therefore, it will take 5280/12 = 440 panels to create one mile (one lane, 12 feet wide). Each panel is expected to produce 7600Wh of electricity daily based on 15% efficiency and four hours of sunlight per day (for more details, see the Numbers page).

440 times 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.

According to a 2007 study by the Energy Information Administration, the average American home used 936kWh per month. Dividing this number by 30 will give us 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. We can wean ourselves off coal. Again, that's based on four hours of sunlight per day.

Some of the roads in our neighborhood never see sunlight. Does that mean that we'll never see the Solar Roadways in our neighborhood?

No. We would install Solar Road Panels in tunnels and under bridges, knowing that they will never see sunlight themselves. Remember, we can produce three times more electricity than we have ever used. Theoretically, that means that only one-third of the Solar Road Panels ever have to see the light of day. They will still light up (nice for those tunnels!), melt snow and ice, report problems, etc., using the power that was collected by the panels in the region that did have access to sunlight.

Can you charge electric vehicles while they are driving?

Our initial plan is to start off with parking lots, where electric vehicles (EVs) can plug in to recharge. We're also looking into mutual induction to charge EVs while they are driving down the Solar Roadway of the future.

What about using piezoelectric or thermocouple technology?

With the vibration that roads experience, piezoelectric (the ability of some materials to produce a voltage due to applied mechanical strain) technology looks very attractive - especially since it could work at night when solar cells do not. We've been in contact with other companies attempting to use this technology in roads. Thermocouple (a junction between two different metals that produces a voltage related to a temperature difference) technology could also be used in conjuntion with our stormwater storage plans: the water stored beneath the frost line should remain below 60 degree F (similar to the temperature of a cave) and can be pumped via electric pumps to the surface of the road to cool the solar cells, making them more efficient. Thermocouples could be placed between the cold water conduit and the hot surface, creating a voltage during the cool down cycle. The reverse could be done in the winter months (50-60 degree water circulating past a near frozen surface). This technology also works at night. Both of these technologies are being considered for future enhancements.

Is your company publicly traded? Are you looking for investors?

No, we're not publicly traded. Like the Blues Brothers, we honestly feel that we're "on a mission from God". We feel that He has entrusted us with an enormous responsibility to make His world a better place. We have (or can hire) the technical expertise to make the Solar Roadways a reality. We've received some government funding, but we're always open to a local angel investor who would like to become a part of this project and get his/her hands dirty. We're not interested in someone who's "in it for the money", but someone who sees the vision and, like us, wants to leave the world a better place than when we entered it.

What can I do to help?

You can help this project along in many ways. The news about Solar Roadways has been spreading by word of mouth, articles and blogs. You can tell people you know about us. You can follow us on Twitter and become our friends on Facebook and MySpace. When new articles are written on various sites, there are opportunities to blog and express your opinions. You can let your congressmen and representatives know that you would like to see Solar Roadways implemented quickly. See the following pages for additional information: Donations, Volunteers, Investors.

You can also help out by voting: Solar Roadways is a proud participant in GE's Ecomagination Challenge: a contest created to find new ways of improving our energy grid with renewable energy. Visitors to the site are asked to vote for the best ideas. We'd appreciate your vote for the Solar Roadways entries (all three!). Thank you very much.

Thank you