The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is considering the option of relying on Solar Roadways to make Route 66 the site of a solar panel installation. Solar Roadways is a startup created by Scott Brusaw and Julie Brusaw, through which they have launched the Indiegogo project. At the moment they are working in the Missouri welcome center. If the pilot test goes well, they hope to continue with the rest of the route. They have the support of MoDOT engineer Tom Blair, who believes that if the couple’s estimates are realistic, the project will pay for itself. Missouri could follow in the footsteps of France, where Wattway has already completed such projects over longer distances.
Solar Roadways
Julie and Scott Brusaw, a married couple from Idaho, founded Solar Roadways in 2010. It is a start up through which they intend to develop solar panel installations that can supply three times the energy demand of the United States. Can you imagine? The couple suggests that their hexagonal solar panels will filter rainwater, melt snow and ice on the roads, turn on lights to make driving easier and avoid electrical wires on the ground.
Solar Roadways has partnered with the state of Missouri on a solar array project on the walkway at the Missouri Welcome Center in Conway. This is a pilot project that, if successful, would give the green light to a project to install solar panels along the entire length of the famous Route 66.
A billion-dollar project
If it were to go ahead, the implementation of solar panels along the entire Route 66 would be a billion-dollar project, and this is precisely the main problem. It should be noted that the price of solar panels has now fallen, so the amount would be lower. However, it would still be disproportionately high. In addition, it would not only be a question of the cost of paving the roads, but also of their subsequent maintenance. Would it really be worth making an investment of such an amount? Would it bring any benefit?
Is it really worth it?
Solar Roadways’ solar panels are unlike any other. The company has designed panels to provide traction similar to that of road pavement, while eliminating the need to paint road stripes thanks to integrated LED lights. They are heated to melt snow and ice that accumulates on the roads, whose electricity could also be used to power the power grid of homes.
As if that were not enough, it could also act as a charging point for electric cars, and it is proposed that with technological advances, they could even be charged while driving. Tom Blair, the assistant engineer for the Missouri DOT district, is absolutely convinced that if these features are real, the roads will pay for themselves, recouping the billion-dollar investment.
Other solar panel roads
Although this project sounds very innovative, it would not be the first time this has happened. France already has this technology on a section of its roads. In 2016, the French company Colas developed its road surface panels, Wattway. It is a 1km (0.62 mile) road, for a price tag of $5.2 million. Not only do they have this section underway, but the French government is studying the possibility of extending that distance. In addition, Colas is already competing with Roadways. The state of Georgia has chosen Colas to install its technology on a stretch of Interstate 85.
