FAQ - Solar Energy. 

Solar Energy

How efficient are your current solar cells?

Currently, they are 23.7-percent.

How much power can a Customer expect to get from a Solar Road Panel?

It depends on a variety of factors: Location, what time of year it is, amount of shading from trees, how many cars tend to be parked over it and at what times etc. Distributors will be trained to do site assessments and give interested customers specific estimates about how much solar energy they can expect for their exact site.

Can Solar Road Panels create as much energy as rooftop panels?

It’s unlikely. When we invented Solar Roadways, it was never with the intent that they could compete with rooftop solar in terms of energy. An apples to apples comparison in terms of energy would be nonsensical. Solar Road Panels are a multi-featured infrastructure product which does many things that a rooftop solar panels cannot and can be installed in many places where a rooftop solar panel would be quickly destroyed. So we say it’s not an apples to apples comparison, but rather an apples to fruit basket comparison.

Will Solar Road Panels ever become more efficient than they are now?

Yes, Solar Road Panels (SRPs) will continue to become more efficient as the solar industry advances. We can easily use whatever solar cells are the most efficient in our panels as they become economically feasible.

Don't solar cells produce DC energy? How does a home or business use this?

The DC energy is converted into 240VAC energy and delivered to the load center of the home or business. Excess energy can be put back on the grid via net metering or can be stored in a battery.

How can the panels produce energy on a full parking lot or in bumper to bumper traffic?

If you look at aerial photos, it’s easy to see that there is still much space open to the sun in these situations. It feels more crowded to us than it really is. Also full parking lots and heavy traffic on highways are actually rare when you consider all times and locations. A good time to watch for this is from an airplane. We often take photos of parking lots and highways from the air for demonstration purposes.

Is there any situation when Solar Road Panels outproduce traditional rooftop solar panels?

Yes. We set up Data Collection Sites in Idaho, Arizona and Missouri where we tested two traditional rooftop solar panels: one flat and the other angled correctly by latitude. While on sunny days the angled panels collected more energy, as was expected, on cloudy days the flat panels collected more energy. We believe we uncovered a new phenomenon that no one had reason to look for. This means that in areas which are often cloudy, like Seattle, laying panels flat should produce the most energy.