Myth of the Month

Myth of the Month - #2: That we want to convince the government to be wasteful by ripping up good roads and replacing them with our Solar Roadways.

Combating waste is at the very core of our mission. The only logical way to proceed when the time comes to retrofit roads and highways (after a good test run with parking lots, walkways etc.) is to begin with stretches of highway that are slated for repair or replacement, as well as new roads and highways. If our government decides to create a smart grid with Solar Roadways, it would be accomplished gradually - in an intelligent and organized fashion.

The fact that we dislike waste so much is behind our idea to recycle trash that would otherwise be in our landfills and oceans and give it a home as a composite material in our panels. We love the idea of killing two birds with one stone, so to speak, whenever possible.

As you can imagine, we also intend to put the first panels at any of our manufacturing facilities right onto the parking lot at said facility! That way, we immediately go off grid and fight waste in that way as well.

The fact that the panels will be heated will fight waste by eliminating the need to run snow plows and other snow removal equipment and products on our road.

One of our favorite features is the road's ability to provide power to electric vehicles. Think of the waste reduction when coal is no longer needed to charge cars. No more dependence on gas or oil. Just the clean energy from the sun.

If you think about it, most of that lovely energy from the sunshine is currently being wasted. We want to stop that waste and utilize it to power the world.

Myth of the Month #1: That it would be a better idea to put solar canopy over the roads

In reading the blogs about Solar Roadways, one of the most common ideas we read is that it would be much smarter to make a canopy of solar panels to put over the road. The proponents of this idea point out that this would allow the energy generation without worrying about creating something strong enough to be driven upon. That part is true. But what those who would have us build such a canopy fail to think about are the following problems:

Our state DOTs don't have enough money as it is to keep up with road maintenance and the construction of new roads. Even if somehow the money were raised to build such a canopy, the actual roads would have to be built and repaired in the usual manner and at the usual expense. This plan would be much more expensive than replacing the roads with Solar Roadways, which replaces the current roads.

Some sort of pillars (concrete) would have to be erected to support such a canopy, all along every road and highway. This creates millions of obstacles that cars could hit, causing much injury and death. It would also create an eyesore obstructing the view all along our highways. And remember, this would be in addition to all of the current expense of road building that we have now.

This canopy would block the sun from our roads and highways. We would be driving in a darker, tunnel like atmosphere. No more view of the beautiful sky and clouds on road trips. We pay extra for cars with sunroofs and convertibles so we can enjoy the scenery on trips.

Since the solar panels would no longer be on the roads and the roads would continue to be traditional asphalt, some of the features of Solar Roadways would be lost. The road would not be lit at night by LED lights There would be no heating element to melt snow and ice. The canopy would block some snow that fell directly downwards but would not stop accumulation from snow that blows horizontally onto the roads or water that freezes into ice.

How would you keep the snow and ice from accumulating on the solar panels above the highway? What happens every time a section of your canopy collapses? How do you service the canopy without disrupting traffic? Would it be firm enough to drive upon? We thought of this idea ourselves early in the development of our project, but quickly abandoned it, due to the many disadvantages.