The concept of using roads as solar cells seems like a great idea until you start considering all of the damage that streets regularly have to handle. From freezing water to overloaded vehicles, the nation’s highways take a lot of punishment. However, that isn’t stopping Solar Roadways from refining its concept for a sun-powered surface that you can drive on. It’s latest big step is raising over $1.5 million in a crowdfunding campaign on the website Indiegogo that ends on May 31. We think the energetic solar freakin’ roadway video had more than a little to do with attracting attention to the project.
Solar Roadways concept uses a textured glass surface embedded with solar cells to generate electricity, melt snow and even show safety warnings through integrated LEDs. They claim it can withstand 250,000-pounds of weight. The fully solar road is still a plan for the future, though. The company hopes to start small with parking lots, driveways and sidewalks. The business has already received grants of $100,000and $750,000 from the Department of Transportation to prove the concept.
The company’s nascent success isn’t without its detractors. According to The Verge, some experts believe that replacing the road network with solar panels isn’t economically feasible, and the company’s promises are too vague. The country can barely keep the current infrastructure funded, let alone replace it with an unproven solution. Also, Solar Roadways lost out on funding from major tech investors like GE and Google, and GigaOM‘s Katie Fehrenbacher says that we should be focusing on putting solar on rooftops before roads, anyway. Time will tell.
This article originally appeared on Autoblog.
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