The viral solar roadways

Gracie Miracle
State College of Florida
Degree focus: undecided

The video below went viral on social media for its concepts
on environmental sustainability through solar roadways.
My focus is on the solar cells specifically and my
concern/question is; could we realistically make ALL
roadways solar panels to combat our ecological footprint?

In order to answer my question I needed to know what

solar panels actually were and if the solar roadway cells
were any different.

{solar panel break down(enrgy.gov)}

{single-junction energy
transfer(nasa.gov)}
So a cell makes up a module and a module is a typical solar panel. Solar panels are made up of
photovoltaic cells that convert light into electricity at the atomic level.(nasa.gov) Photovoltaic cells
are considered the most common form of solar panels. Most photovoltaic cells use singe-junction
technology, which basically means they dont use all the potential energy of the suns radiation to
create electricity.

So whats the difference?

Solar roadways

Solar panels

Soar roadways use a tempered

Solar panels use a glass or plastic
glass cover, also known as safety
cover.
glass.
Both are

Solar panel cells do not interlock.

Photovolta
Solar roadways interlock each
ic.
cell together.
Solar panels use single-junction
Solar roadways use multi-junction
technology.
poly-crystalline technology.

What is a Multi-junction Polycrystalline cell?

Multi-junction technology is the opposite of single-junction it
uses more of the suns energy and converts it into electricity
more efficiently.
Poly-crystalline is many crystal like grains of semiconductor
materials(energy.gov), that help turn light into electricity.

What I found
Photovoltaic systems can only use 80%-90% of the suns radiation
on a sunny day, because the rest is diffused. On a partly cloudy
day a photovoltaic system can only use 50% of the radiation and
on a cloudy day the system cant use any. (energy.gov) Think of all
the states that get cloudy and foggy for extended periods of time
during the winter.
However, the first solar road put to legitimate use was installed in
the Netherlands around Amsterdam. Amsterdam receives little sun
light and is producing more than 3,000 kilowatt-hours of energy ,
enough to keep small house running for a year. Although, that
was after six months.(thinkprogress.org and holiday-weather.com)

Average Rainfall
Sunshine Hours

Average Daily

Jan Feb Mar Apr MayJun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
D
Ma
Jan Feb Mar Apr
Jun Jul AugSep Oct Nov e Hou 3 5 6 10 10 11 10 8 7 6 3 3
y
c r
6
mm69 39 78 36 45 69 63 54 75 84 90
9
Day
8
s

11 9

12 12 9

12 11 10 9

Conclusion
This is a smart way to combat our ecological footprint,
but ALL roads as solar panels wouldnt be worth the
hassle because the energy produced would be limited
based on climate region. However putting them in
regions of maximum sunlight would be more productive.

Resources

"Introduction." <i>Solar Roadways -</i>. N.p., 2015. Web. 27 Nov. 2015.

&lt;http://www.solarroadways.com/intro.shtml&gt;.
Valentine, Katie. "The Worlds First Solar Road Is Producing More Energy Than Expected."
<i>ThinkProgress The Worlds First Solar Road Is Producing More Energy Than Expected
Comments</i>. N.p., 11 May 2015. Web. 27 Nov. 2015.
&lt;http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/05/11/3657220/solaroad-producingenergy/&gt;.
Lacey, Stephen. "Would Solar Roadways Work? A Government Engineer Discusses the
Controversial Technology." N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.
&lt;http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Department-of-Transportation-OfficialDiscusses-Solar-Roadways&gt;.
<i>YouTube</i>. YouTube, n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2015. &lt;https://www.youtube.com/results?
search_query=solar%2Bfreakin%2Broadways&gt;.
"Solar Power Energy Information, Solar Power Energy Facts - National Geographic."
<i>National Geographic</i>. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.
&lt;http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/solarpower-profile/&gt;.

Resources
"How Do Photovoltaics Work?" - NASA Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.
<http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2002/solarcells/>.

"Flat-Plate Photovoltaic System Basics." Energy.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.
<http://energy.gov/eere/energybasics/articles/flat-plate-photovoltaic-system-basics>.
"Photovoltaic System Basics." Energy.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.
<http://energy.gov/eere/energybasics/articles/photovoltaic-system-basics>.
"Photovoltaic Polycrystalline Thin-Film Cell Basics." Energy.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 28
Nov. 2015. <http://energy.gov/eere/energybasics/articles/photovoltaicpolycrystalline-thin-film-cell-basics>.
Brusaw, Scott. Re: URGENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Message to Gracie Miracle. 26 November
2015. E-mail.
"Amsterdam: Annual Weather Averages." Weather Averages for Amsterdam,
Netherlands. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015. <http://www.holidayweather.com/amsterdam/averages/>.