When we think of solar power most of us think
of big and bulky cumbersome panels stacked in a field somewhere, gathering the
sun’s rays for clean energy but taking up massive amounts of space. When we
think of roads we think of transportation. We think of driving our cars, going
to work, getting stuck in traffic jams, heading to breakfast. But there is one
regard in which you think of solar panels different from roads where you should
actually see them similarly.
The space they occupy.
What if you could replace the roads with
solar panels? I mean, the space is already occupied anyway? Why not just
re-purpose it? The brilliant minds at Solar Roadways had the same brilliant
idea.
Today at TI&IT we’re going to talk
briefly about how a solar panel works, the company that is spearheading a green
technology that could change the way we power our world, and the versatile
options this “pathway” opens up. We’ll also talk about how they plan to make
them durable enough to withstand motorists’ abuse, what materials are needed to
accomplish this, and what the future holds.
Dim Start for Solar
Technology
That handsome fellow with the dashing
mustache was Auguste Mouchout. Don’t know who he is? I’m not surprised. But if
you’re all about green technology he’s someone you should take note of. In 1860
Mouchout built the first solar powered steam engine.
While certainly not practical it’s impossible
to ignore the fact that it was quite innovative for the time. He built on the
work of Horace Bénédicte de Saussure (who invented the first Solar Oven in
1767, capable of reaching 230 degrees F.) and Claude Pouillet (who estimated
the Solar Constant which is the amount of solar radiation in between the sun
and the Earth. He was fairly close I might add) first and explored solar
cooking.
He discovered that by exposing water in an
iron cauldron closed with a piece of glass to the rays of the sun it would
eventually cause the water to boil. If a reflector was angled over the top of
the glass it would intensify the heat thus increasing the steam output. Worried
about the countries dependence on coal he decided to go to work on developing a
solar powered steam engine.
But it didn’t stop there. Emperor Napoleon
was so impressed that he gave Auguste financial assistance and after the
Prussian siege he built a generator that ran on solar energy. Some of his other
sun inspired inventions included a printing press and an ice maker.
So why is it if he came up with this in 1860
we’re just finally getting around to
using solar power now? Funny you should ask, and I have one word for you.
Politicians.
As always it comes down to politics. Solar
energy fell to the wayside in the rush for fossil fuels to supply an energy
hungry world. (Funny how that full-circle thing works huh?) This isn’t the
first time green technology has been kicked to the curb in favor of black smoke
inducing quick fixes. Remember the fuel cells we talked about a few months ago?
(It’s been awhile, I forgive you. Refresh your memory by clicking here for part 1 and here for part 2.)
But maybe this time they’ll get it right, and
a company called Solar Roadways is hoping to help guide them along the path.
Follow the LED Road
Solar Roadways founders Scott and Julie
Brusaw in the video above are looking to usher in a new era. The cost of
asphalt has risen due to the rise in petroleum cost. The reality is, our well
will run dry. If we don’t invest in a new idea now, it may be too late later.
The panels are hexagonal plate glass with
LEDs sandwiched in between that can be used for a variety of purposes.
Everything from warning motorists of dangers lurking in the crosswalk ahead to
speed bumps coming up soon. At night they could illuminate the median, keeping
drowsy motorists from running off the edge.
The panels would more than pay for themselves
and would benefit homeowners and businesses along the pathway alike. They can
be used as panels in parking lots, playgrounds, roads, they might even be able
to be used to replace bulky and inefficient by comparison models on roofs by
replacing the shingles themselves. The versatility of this technology cannot be
ignored.
In the future they hope this technology will
be able to recharge electric cars as they move down the road. The panels are
also being outfitted to melt snow and ice in order to keep motorists from
slipping and sliding all over the wintery roads. (photo below)
So how do they work?
Photovoltaic (PV) cells are made of special
materials called semiconductors such as silicon, which is currently used most
commonly. Basically, when light strikes the cell, a certain portion of it is
absorbed within the semiconductor material. This means that the energy of the
absorbed light is transferred to the semiconductor. The energy knocks electrons
loose, allowing them to flow freely.
PV cells have one or more electric fields
that sort of push the loose electrons around in a line. This is called a
current. When metal contacts are placed in specific positions on the PV cell it
allows that current to be drawn out in order to be used for our purposes, say
charging your cell phone or watching a new episode of South Park.
The Brusaw’s aren’t inventing anything new
here, but rather pulling several different technologies together in order to
re-invent the wheel. (So to speak…) The real beauty is in the design. The way
the LEDs are packaged in the panels creates a hermetically sealed environment
but each panel is wired to a separate circuit, so if one goes bad it’s quickly
identifiable and easily accessible for repair.
But the brilliance doesn’t just stop there.
The entire support structure for each panel is made from recycled materials
pulled out of landfills. Its ground into small pellets and mixed with organic
material before being pressed into the molds. They’re going green on every
level imaginable.
So all this sounds fine and dandy but how are
they going to make it strong enough to drive on? They have an answer for that. “Yeah
smart guy? Well what happens to glass when it rains?” Calm yourself, they have
an answer for that as well. Read on young Padawan.
Just Keep On Truckin’
Turns out it’s possible to make glass you can
drive on. It’s also possible to make it grooved so that it maintains traction
in the rain. The panels are capable of powering internal heaters to melt snow
and ice. Don’t believe me, see for yourself.
The Federal Highway Administration put their
roads through rigorous stress testing. They had to. After all, they wanted
Solar Roadways to build a prototype road to see how well this technology
worked. The road passed all tests with flying colors.
You can make glass really strong, really
flexible, even really light. There are a multitude of different kinds of glass
and we don’t have the time to go into even half of them in this blog today. But
for the purposes of what we’re talking about now, think about bulletproof
glass.
Yep, that’s a real dude sitting behind the
glass. So what makes bulletproof glass so strong? It’s laminated. But it’s not
just glass glued down to more glass on top of more glass, it’s actually
sandwiched in between a different material altogether. It has many brand names
but at the end of the day, it’s all known as polycarbonate.
Polycarbonate comes
in all shapes and sizes, thicknesses and densities. (It even comes in a vast
array of colors, ya know, for those of you who honestly care.) But when the
right piece is put to its intended use it can be anything from a flexible
temporary replacement for a broken window to a tempered windshield in the
cockpit of a Boeing.
They are easily
worked molded and thermoformed, and after being bonded with panels of glass and
topped with a grooved surface these hexagonal panels are ready for anything,
even the heaviest of semis couldn’t hurt these puppies.
The way it works is
when a force, in this case we’ll say a bullet, strikes the first layer of the
laminated glass its energy is dispersed by the layer of polycarbonate
underneath. By spreading the impact over a large area it stops the bullet from
entering all the way through the panel.
Now I’m not saying we’ll
be shooting at our roads any time soon, but this same kind of paneling can be
used to protect against bombs if prepared to the right thickness. If it can
withstand a bomb, I have a feeling it’ll be able to take a few thrashings our
cars can toss at it.
Only Time Will
Tellurium
All of this sounds
like a wonderful plan in my opinion. I love the idea of replacing all the
roadways in America, nay, the whole world over
with a way to produce clean renewable energy. But this does create a few
problems, some of which are related to availability, and others are fears of
the political agenda kind.
Solar panels use an
element that is extremely rare here on Earth called Tellurium. Just to put it
into perspective it’s just about as rare in the Earth’s crust as platinum. The
good news is that it’s available elsewhere in the solar system in abundance.
The more bad news is we have no way to harvest it to date.
The second problem is
that if we replace all our roadways with this new technology we will be putting
a lot of hard working American’s out of work after installation. Construction as
it is now will be a thing of the past, replaced by laptops and technicians with
screwdrivers rather than jackhammers.
There is also the problem that polycarbonates contain BPAs which are known to have carcinogenic effects on humans. The good news is most of the public won't be directly exposed to them through touch and other sensory activity, the bad news is those chemicals overtime could leech from the roadways into the environment if not contained properly or manufactured with a BPA alternative altogether.
All change is scary,
but I know I would certainly embrace this one with open arms. Scott and Julia
Brusaw, my hats off to you both. I wish you luck on your quest to bringing us
clean energy.
-Ryan Sanders
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