Graphic design by Sam Cornett
Solar roadways, a path to safer highways and enhanced recreational parks? The concepts are pretty cool, and the added bonus of eliminating many of the expenses cities encounter makes it a win-win. Melting snow without plows or salt, changing a basketball court into a kiddie playground, redirecting traffic due to emergencies (think hurricanes) and visual recognition of something moving across a road? These are all realities on this current project.
This also paves the way for self-driving cars. Data can be transmitted and received via the vehicles computer, read by the road and automatically routed based on traffic conditions. The added bonus of providing a free power source for cities, homes, playgrounds, etc is one way it can pay for itself rather quickly. Wishing I was on the development or deployment team for this project, it has a definite future. Read more about the project here: Solar Roadways – Introduction.
If you liked this article, then please follow me on Twitter and Facebook.