Solar Roadways Concept Adds Green Energy to the Driving Equation

Solar roof panels are no longer the ultimate in green energy—or at least they won’t be once (and if) the Solar Roadways project comes to fruition. The concept is all about making your miles cleaner (and safer): Solar road panels will be embedded with LEDs, which will indicate road lines and provide real-time driving instructions.

The solar panels will also be equipped with heaters to keep roads snow- and ice-free. What’s more, the proposed roadways feature charging stations for electric cars, a nice incentive for drivers to switch to cleaner vehicles.

The US Department of Transportation awarded Solar Roadways $100,000 to build a Solar Road Panel prototype. It will take an estimated 5 billion 12 x 12-feet Solar Road Panels to cover asphalt roadways in the U.S. We just hope the developers step on it.