This link has been circulating around a lot the last couple of days and the company behind it currently has an IndieGoGo campaign trying to raise $1,000,000 so that they can finish their prototype. There are a lot of questions to consider – many of which they talk about on their website, like traction on a basically glass surface, and snow accumulation in the winters up north, and how effective they’ll still be when they’re dirty or covered with stop and go traffic or whatever.
But it’s still a pretty neat concept to think about when you consider the sun as our biggest energy source and wanting to tap into it without covering every backyard in America with solar panels – there’s such a sizable surface area of our country that’s covered with roadways and parking lots today that maybe this would be a better alternative so that we can get more than just a flat driving surface out of these areas! I still think that it’s only one part of a bigger puzzle because I’ve got to think that eventually every new house being built will include things like solar on the roof, etc…, but even with lots of question marks – my biggest one for this project is just exactly how much do each of those panels actually cost, and of course, they’re certainly not going to be cheap … but then again, how many other costs could we consolidate into these things in their replacement to make it worthwhile???
Snow plows … oil and coal surcharges … smarter traffic management … safety expenses by offering a more friendly roadway for travelers.
As Bill Nye would say, this could change the world! 😀