Intelligent Road System
Posted : September 23, 2009 by Puneet, Category: Sustainability
There’s a new potential technology called “Solar Roadway” in the development phases which can likely change the energy consumption pattern during the life cycle of any road, bridge or parking lot.
The Solar Roadway™ is a series of structurally-engineered solar panels that are driven upon. The heart of this Solar Roadway™ is the Solar Road Panel™ which comprises of three basic layers:
- Road Surface Layer - Translucent and high-strength, it is rough enough to provide great traction
- Electronics Layer - Contains a large array of cells, the bulk of which will contain solar collecting cells with LEDs for “painting” the road surface
- Base Plate Layer - While the electronics layer collects and stores the energy from the sun, it is the base plate layer that distributes power (collected from the electronics layer) and data signals (phone, TV, internet, etc.)
The benefits besides decentralized, secure & intelligent road system are many like system can act as a Recharger for electric vehicles, add to the Driving safety and health benefits, lead to better aesthetics and may allow the businesses to trade the carbon credits etc.
Already the US department of transportation has awarded the research contract to create a prototype of the solar panel.
Some of the important points to be considered before its practical use are the cost, load bearing capacity of panels, wear & tear and maintenance.
Petroleum based asphalt roads, driveways & parking lots consume nearly 15- 20% of any planned space and affect the microclimate in many ways. Definitely this is good news for the projects aiming towards a reduced carbon footprint and a LEED certification!
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