1. 0
Maruf M Kutub
Mechanical Engineering
Wayne State University
M a y 2 , 2 0 1 5
Benefits of implementing solar
powered roadways

2. Table of Contents
Executive Summary ii.
I. Introduction 1
II. The use of solar powered roadways will generate clean energy 2
i. Earth’s non-renewable energy sources are depleting 2
ii. Solar powered roadways will harness sun’s energy to generate electricity 2
iii. Will create energy without any harmful effects to the environment 3
III. Solar powered road ways will create safer travels. 4
i. Solar roadways will decrease accidents due to poor weather conditions 4
ii. Prototype of a solar roadways 6
IV. Solar powered roadways will improve the economy 7
i. Creation of jobs. 7
ii. Saving capital on the maintenance of roads. 8
Conclusion 9
References 10
i.

3. List of Tables and Figures
1. Figure 1: Statistical analysis of accidents due to poor weather conditions …………..4
2. Figure 2: LED lights illuminating danger …………...………………………………..…5
3. Figure 3: First ever solar roadway in Amsterdam. ………………………………….....6
4. Figure 4: Increase in Winter Expenditures………………………………………………..8

4. Executive Summary
Heliotrope Innovative Research Department has recently ventured into developing a technology
that replaces asphalt roads with solar powered infrastructure. As the Earth is running out of non-
renewable energy sources, it is our responsibility to find new and innovative ways to save our
natural resources. Solar power gives us an efficient and clean method of harnessing the sun’s
immense energy, by creating electricity from light. As roads and highways are currently just
baking out in the open, it is a great opportunity to use solar panels on them to create clean
energy. Therefore, Dr. Mayer, Senior Associate of the Heliotrope Innovative Research
Department requested a formal report on implementing Solar Powered Roadways to see if it can
help reduce our carbon footprint.
Research was conducted for this report from reliable, scholarly, online studies as well as an
interview with an electrical engineer, who is experienced in the field of constructing solar panels.
This research shows that implementing solar powered roadways will have a major impact on our
environment and our society for the following reasons:
1. With a solar powered infrastructure system, harnessing the sun’s immense power
source will produce clean and renewable energy. This will slow down the
consumption of non-renewable energy sources while helping to protect our
environment, as electricity generated by power plants produce harmful carbon
dioxide.
2. Solar Powered Roadways will help the economy to move towards a brighter future by
creating and sustaining thousands of job. It is self-sufficient and will save tax payers
thousands of dollars, which are currently wasted on maintaining roadways from
severe weather. This innovative infrastructure will make travel a lot safer by
producing heat to melt snow during winter and warn drivers about fallen debris up
ahead.
The following course of action is recommended for Heliotrope Innovative to invest and take
advantage of this opportunity-
 Arrange a meeting with Mr. Scott Brusaw, the inventor and owner of Solar Roadways
Inc.
 Discuss and reach an exclusive agreement to invest in their innovation. This includes
buying 60% of the share.
 Once a contract has been agreed upon, make prototype roads around the Heliotrope
research facility to test out the system before mass production.

5. 1
DISCUSSION
I. Introduction
Heliotrope Innovative Research Department has recently ventured into developing a technology
that replaces asphalt roads into solar powered infrastructure. As the Earth is running out of non-
renewable energy sources, it is our responsibility to find new and innovative ways to save our
natural resources. Solar power gives us an efficient and clean method of harnessing the sun’s
vast energy source by creating electricity from light. As roads and highways are currently just
lying and baking out in the open, it is a great opportunity to use solar panels on them to create
clean energy. Therefore, Dr. Mayer, Senior Associate of the Heliotrope Innovative Research
Department requested a formal report on implementing Solar Powered Roadways, to see if it can
help reduce our carbon footprint.
The purpose of this report is to provide information regarding the implementation of Solar
Powered Roadway System. This report is based upon an interview with Mr. Jinnu Rhyne, an
electrical engineer at Continental Inc., as well as academic articles discussing the advantages of
producing electricity by solar power.
The remainder of this report shows: 1) how the use of solar roadways will produce clean
electricity; and help us preserve our nonrenewable natural sources, which are important in
sustaining life on earth 2) how the solar roadways system will allow safer travels; and 3) the
ways in which the system will positively affect the economy

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II. The use of solar powered roadways will generate clean energy.
The most important reason to implement solar powered roadways is to generate electricity in a
clean, environment friendly way. This section will describe the many factors how power plants
and extraction companies produce energy using nonrenewable sources that are not self-
sustaining, and result in harmful emission and destruction to the wildlife. This section will also
reflect upon how solar powered roadways offer solutions to these problems. Based on the data
collected, the Solar Powered Roadway System can make producing electricity more efficient,
without harming the global climate.
i. Earth’s non-renewable energy sources are depleting.
The demand for earth’s resources has been significantly increasing since the birth of the
Industrial Revolution. Increasing development of modern buildings, transportation and
production of electricity have been made possible because of the discovery and extraction of
fossil fuels. Due to this exponential increase in demand, it has put dangerous strain on our natural
resources. Examples of earth’s nonrenewable sources are coal, oil and natural gas. Unlike
renewable sources like wind, water and sun- fossil fuels will eventually run out. The huge
demand for fossil fuels is due to its high energy rich value. More than three quarters of the
world's energy consumption comes from fossil fuels. Of this approximately, 40% of fossil fuels
are used in petroleum form, 15 % in natural gas form and 8 % in coal form. Fossil fuels are the
main backbone of the industrialization but they have contributed to the burden of environmental
pollution significantly. (Why are Fossil Fuels the most Important Energy Source?). Therefore the
need for a new method of producing clean energy is increasing day by day. Solar power
generation technologies are important for providing a major share of the clean and
renewable energy needed in the future, because they are the cost-effective among
renewable power generation technologies. (Reddy)
ii. Solar powered roadways will harness sun’s energy to generate electricity.
Due to the increasing demand and a limited amount of natural resources, environmentalists have
been debating whether they should implement other ways to generate electricity. The top
solution to the problem is using solar power. A common misconception is that solar power
systems aren’t efficient enough to meet our electricity demand. This is not true. In the lab,
scientists have developed solar panels that are 40% efficient, or even slightly more than that.
(Solar Panel Efficiency).
But efficiency is not the main problem; the main problem is to find enough free space to set up
solar panels as they depend on surface area to produce electricity. Australia has estimated the

7. 3
replacement of fossil fuels with solar renewable energy completely. They found that this would
involve an area as big as 4000 square kilometers. Panels were placed occupying an area of 200
km squared, almost 4 times the average area of a roof are installed which actually meets the need
of one person (Why are Fossil Fuels the most Important Energy Source?).
Thus the idea of solar powered roadways comes into action. We have thousands of kilometers of
roads just lying out in the open and baking under the sun. Replacing the old asphalt roadways
with strong, energy producing roadways will not only solve the space issue of solar panels but
will also generate enough energy to replace fossil fuels forever.
iii. Will create energy without any harmful effects to the environment
Burning fossil fuels to generate electricity emits harmful greenhouse gases into the air. Carbon
dioxide produced from this process damages the ozone layer, which protects us from harmful
radiation. “A 2004 study concluded that pollution from coal-powered plants shortened nearly
24,000 lives a year in the U.S.”(Stefan). Acid rain, land pollution, and oil spills are all greatly
associated with using fossil fuels.
Solar Powered Roadways will produce clean electricity without creating any damage to the
environment. It simply uses the sun’s unlimited energy source to produce and store electricity.
Unlike fossil fuels, solar energy doesn’t create any harmful gases, which degrades the
environment. The materials used to build the solar powered roadways are 100% recyclable
material and can be changed part by part when damaged. (Mr. Rhyne)
Not only power plants, but also millions of automobiles give off harmful gases while running on
gasoline. As the roadways will produce more electricity, transportation can also be
revolutionized. More electric cars will be manufactured and slowly everyone will be able to
drive using electricity. (Mr. Rhyne). This creates a clean, greener environment for the future
generation. Cities will have clean air and less carbon footprint.

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Figure 1 Statistical analysis of accidents due to poor weather conditions
Ten-year averages from 2002 to 2012 analyzed by Booz Allen Hamilton, based on NHTSA data
III. Solar powered road ways will create safer travels
Solar powered roadways will not only produce clean energy, it will also have the capability to
keep the surface temperature above freezing. This process will enable the surface to melt snow
and keep road conditions safe. Thousands of lives are lost each year due to the poor maintenance
of roads. Initiative to efficiently fix the roads and in a timely manner is rarely seen. This is
mainly due to the fact that thousands of dollars are needed to maintain a road constructed from
concrete and asphalt. This section will discuss how solar powered roadways will make
maintaining roads easier and cost efficient.
i. Solar roadways will decrease accidents due to poor weather conditions
It has been estimated that on an average, 6,250 people are killed and over 480,000 people are
injured in weather-related crashes each year. (Hamilton). The majority of those crashes occur
during winter season where ice accumulates on the surface of the roads and causes cars to lose
friction.
Thousands of people are affected each year due to poor road conditions. During harsh weather,
poor road conditions also caused a lot of damage to road transportations. Hundreds of lawsuits
are filed each year against the Federal Highway Administration and the Department of
Transportation for accidents due to poor road conditions. Solar powered roadways are very easy
to fix. Figure 1 shows the statistics behind the road accidents.

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Figure 2 LED lights illuminating danger
Brusaw (2015)
Potholes, fallen debris on the road, and cracks all needs expensive maintenance and are very time
consuming to fix. The solar panels road ways will be created part by part using hexagonal
separated panels which can be easily and quickly replaced if damaged or malfunctioned.
Every solar panel will have a series of LED lights on the circuit board that can be programmed to
make landscape designs, warning signs, and even parking lot configurations. Pavements will
never have to be repainted, only reprogrammed to whatever works best. (Mr. Rhyne). Highways
constructed with solar roads can be potentially programmed to light up warning signs ahead of a
driver, to warn about fallen debris and animals on the way. Figure 3 demonstrates a similar
situation where a deer is in a possible collision with a car. This situation can be avoided by
programming the solar roadways as seen below. See figure 3 below
Preventing dangerous situations like this is possible as the solar roadways are also pressure
sensitive. Therefore it can detect large debris or boulders fallen onto the roads. Just like the deer
shown in the above figure, if an animal is crossing the road, it can warn drivers with LED texts
lighting up ahead of them to slow down for obstruction. Solar roadways will also create
improved visibility for pilots landing on a programmable surface. This will decrease the landing
accidents for airplanes due to poor visibility.

10. 6
Figure 3 First ever solar roadway in Amsterdam.
Hruska, J. (2014)
ii. Prototype developed in Netherlands
The Netherlands has developed the world’s first solar road. This section will talk about the
feasibility of manufacturing solar roadways by giving real life evidence. On November 2014, the
first solar roadway opened in Amsterdam. It is a 70-meter long bike path, which connects two
cities. It is created from high textured glass-covered photovoltaic cells, which produce
electricity. (Hruska)
The material used to create the path is rugged and produces enough traction to prevent slipping
of bike tires. The solar road was compared side by side with a concrete one and they were
measured to have the same temperature during day time. The solar road also passed the wear and
tear test as no visible defect was detected while bikes and small cars were run on it.
Figure 3 shows the picture of the solar roadway developed alongside a concrete road. The
difference is minimal.

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IV. Solar powered roadways will improve the economy
The current condition of our economy isn’t at its best. Thousands of people are unemployed and
constantly looking for jobs. The countrywide implementation of solar roadways will create a
positive effect by creating and sustaining thousands of jobs. The positive effects of solar
roadways don’t stop there. The cost of energy is increasing day by day, as the demand cannot
meet the supply of energy for the booming industrialization. Electricity, gas and gasoline bills
are increasing at exponential rate. Solar powered roadways will generate free energy, which can
be used to meet the rising demand.
i. Creation of jobs.
It is estimated that just to cover the roads, parking lots and driveways in America, it will roughly
take 5 billion 12’ by 12’ Solar Road Panels. Each solar panel is manufactured using solar
collectors, circuit boards and electronic parts that need to be assembled. From the website of the
makers of Solar Roadways Inc., it is predicted that minimum of 10 hours is needed to create one
solar panel used to make the roadways. Therefore to create 5 billion panels it would require 50
billion assembly hours.
If a proposed 10 years is allotted to accomplish this monumental task, it would require 5 billion
assembly hours per year. A typical American works about 40 hours per week, therefore 50 weeks
at 40 hours per week will give off 2000 work hours per year. And dividing that into 5 billion
assembly hours will allow 2,500,000 workers to work full-time for 10 years. (Brusaw) All these
statistics are predicted values and contains a lot of discrepancies. But the message is clear, the
implementation of solar roadways across America will create and sustain thousands of job
opportunity strengthening the economy on its way.
The construction of the road ways will also increase jobs at the suppliers’ end, where job hours
will be created due to the massive orders of manufacturing parts like LEDs, textured glass and
circuits.

12. 8
ii. Saving capital wasted on maintaining roads
Reports suggested that the Michigan Department of Transportation spent $100.3 million on
winter expenditures for the fiscal year 2013 and $65.5 million for 2012. (Slone). And last year
the expenditures rose to $136 million. Out of this $31.73 million was spent on 645,860 tons of
salt, around $20 million on liquids and sand to treat roads and the rest on fuels used for
department vehicles and workforce hours. (Slone) Also millions of dollars are now spent to fix
the damages done to the roads during the winter conditions. Figure 4 shows the increase in
winter expenditures analyzed by the Michigan Department of Transportation.
Figure 4 Increase in winter expenditures
If roadways are created using the tough textured, temperature controlled solar panels, the capital
wasted on roads during winter every year will be greatly decreased. The solar panels use energy
they created to power elements to keep the surface temperature few degrees above freezing.
They are heated thus eliminating the prospect of snow and ice buildup on roads and highways.
This reduces the chance of traffic delays, accidents and injuries. No more shoveling snow from
driveway and sidewalk. These panels will be able to generate enough heat to melt the average
snow fall levels. (Mr. Rhyne)
The solar roadways will have two channels called the cable corridors that run concurrently with
the roadways themselves. One of them houses the electrical cables, circuits and batteries while
the other will capture and filter storm water and melted snow which will be guided to a treatment
facility (Brusaw), increasing the efficiency for channeling water during storms.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Year 2012 Year 2013 Year 2014
Increase in winter expenditures
Millions of dollars

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iii. Conclusion
The demand for energy for the development and growth of a society is increasing day by day. If
Earth’s nonrenewable energy sources are extracted without compromise, they will run out faster
than previously estimated by scientists. The depletion of natural resources will make life on earth
impossible. Therefore, producing energy efficiently and without harming the environment should
be given the utmost importance. Solar powered roadways will not only generate electricity
efficiently by harnessing the sun’s energy, it will also create various opportunities to make a
society better. They possess no harm to the environment and most importantly will bring about a
futuristic solution to the energy problem. If solar roadways are implemented, they will open
doors to the creation of thousands of jobs that will strengthen the economy and will raise the
living standards of people. Solar roadways will create safe travels by heating the surface
temperature to eliminate accidents due to slippage caused by snow or ice. The premise of solar
thermal conversion is that heat from the Sun replaces heat from combustion; fossil-fuel use and
its threat to the environment and climate are thus reduced. (Crabtree). The system will allow
governments to save thousands of dollars wasted on snow removal. It is estimated that if all the
roads of America were converted to solar roadways, the country would generate three times the
energy it currently uses. (Mr. Rhyne). Investing into a project that has a positive impact on
human lives and the economy will not only allow Heliotrope Industry to gain millions, it will
also mark Heliotrope as a humanitarian organization.
Heliotrope should take the following course of action:
 Arrange a meeting with Mr. Scott Brusaw, the inventor and owner of Solar Roadways
Inc.
 Discuss and reach an exclusivity agreement to invest in their venture. This includes
buying 60% of the share.
 Once a contract has been agreed upon, make prototype roads around the Heliotrope
research facility to test out the system, before mass production.

14. 10
References
Brusaw, S. (n.d.). Economic Recovery. Retrieved May 2, 2015, from
http://www.solarroadways.com/economy.shtml
Crabtree, G. W., & Lewis, N. S. (2007). Solar energy conversion. Physics Today, 60(3), 37-42.
doi:10.1063/1.2718755
Hamilton, B. (2015, April 9). How Do Weather Events Impact Roads? Retrieved May 2, 2015,
from http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/weather/q1_roadimpact.htm
Hruska, J. (2014, November 17). The Netherlands has laid the world’s first solar road. Retrieved
from: http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/194313-the-netherlands-has-laid-the-worlds-
first-solar-road-we-go-eyes-on-to-investigate
Reddy, K. S., Mallick, T. K., & Chemisana, D. (2013). Solar power generation. International
Journal of Photoenergy, 2013, 1-2. doi:10.1155/2013/950564
Slone, S. (2014, June 27). High Costs of Winter Road Maintenance, 2013–14. Retrieved May 2,
2015, from http://knowledgecenter.csg.org/kc/content/high-costs-winter-road-
maintenance-2013–14
Solar Panel Efficiency - Pure Energies. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2, 2015, from
http://pureenergies.com/us/how-solar-works/solar-panel-efficiency/
Stefan, K. (2015, January 27). What Are the Effects of Non-Renewable Resources on Living
Organisms? Retrieved May 2, 2015, from http://www.livestrong.com/article/157263-
what-are-the-effects-of-non-renewable-resources-on-living-organisms/
Why are Fossil Fuels the most Important Energy Source? (n.d.). Retrieved May 2, 2015, from
http://www.innovateus.net/climate/why-are-fossil-fuels-most-important-energy-source