how are you affiliated with these people?
The idea is quite frankly silly. The roads require a lot of sunlight, which trees, dirt, and tires will wear and block out said light.
Better to just install panels on roofs of housing first before the road surfaces.
Wow, what cynicism...
First to WEB slicer, I have no affiliation with the inventor.
Secondly, bluefirecorp, you apparently have never driven the highways of the Midwestern states. In fact, most of the worlds highways get plenty of sunlight. Furthermore, The Solar Panel Roadways offer far more than just solar energy from an already developed part of the landscape not to mention the fact that regular highways, streets and parking lots absorb a substantial amount of heat (which contributes to global warning.) I should know, I was a canvasser for eight years and the heat from the streets, even in mild weather, could be very uncomfortable.
The only 'silly' thing here, frankly, is shortsightedness from limited vision.
Actually, I have driven through almost all the states (I've yet to drive through the southwest).
The fact is, tires have rubber, right? Rubber comes off of tires. Rubber blocks light from sun. Did I spell it out enough for you?
In a perfect world with unlimited resources -- sure, these roads would be feasible. But in this reality, it's much more efficient, cost effective, and wise to put solar panels on roofs, not roads.
Actually, here's a few great lines from people who have much, much more experience than you or me on this matter:
They are costly. Not only do you have to remove existing roads but you need to dig down and across to ensure power cables, converters etc. fit.
As you strengthen the glass you reduce the clarity and thus the efficiency of the solar cell.
A damaged solar cell costs much more to replace then tarmac and damage is not just from traffic. The cells break from wear and tear, graffiti, theft and/or even dust can effect your energy generation.
There was work into including liquid batteries underneath the cells to store electricity. Without that your nightly lightning is going to be hard when you generate no electricity at night.
Finally efficiency. Dollar per watt its not worth the investment. You'd be better of building quality cells in lower numbers and maintaining them better plus upgrading is easy.
Ten years from now you put these solar cells in the ground and by the time you're done we'll have cells twice as efficient and a quarter the size.
The fact is roads are dirty, very dirty, solar panels need lots of light, traffic + rubber + random crap + exhaust fumes all sit between the panels and the sun decreasing the amount of light they are receiving.
On top of that these things consume a pretty sizeable chunk of power, being entirely re-programmable (CPU power) + powering multi-coloured LED's + heating the road to melt snow!? + shadows from buildings, bridges, trees etc will lower their efficiency, especially in winter.
