Electrified/networked roads could also be a key step towards self-driving cars and wide-scale EV adoption. By adding other electronics, such as LEDs and touch sensors, additional functionality has also been mooted: Illuminated road markings (and animals crossing the road), roads that melt snow and ice, and so on. The concept, as described by dozens of videos and blog posts over the years, is pretty simple: We replace roads with hard-wearing solar cells. Solar Roadways, the brainchild of Julie and Scott Brusaw of Idaho, have been in development since at least the mid-2000s. In reality, though, where, you know, real-world factors come into play, it will probably never make the jump from drawing board to large-scale deployment.
The concept is verging on utopian: By replacing the USA’s concrete and asphalt roads with solar panels, we could produce three times more electricity than we consume, instantly solving just about every energy problem we have (geopolitical stuff, reliance on fossil fuels, CO2 production, etc.) It’s not hard to see why Solar Roadways has attracted so much attention and money: On paper, it really does sound like one of the greatest inventions ever. At the time of publishing, that figure is now north of $1.4 million, with five days left to go. Over the weekend, the Solar Roadways project on Indiegogo reached its target of $1 million.
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