September 10
Solar Panels Meet the Highway
Following on from a solar power project in Germany where a 2.7km tunnel roof was fitted with solar panels generating 2.8MW, and a project in the US where 594 solar panels were placed at the side of the road to produce 112,000 Kwh annually, a new US project is looking at installing solar panels in the road itself!
Solar Roadways has been awarded a contract to create a prototype with the ultimate goal of replacing the usual petroleum based tarmac road surfaces.
The solar panels will contain LEDS which will display the road markings directly on the road - putting line marking crews out of work if this becomes widespread.
Cheers
p.s. calculations show that if the whole of the road network in the US was replaced by solar panels, it would produce almost enought power for the entire planet!