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IFLScience has a blogvertisement for a company called Solar Roadways, which replaces the decades-old tarmac way of building roads which something far more useful. As well as incorporating a solar power collector, other features such as under-road heating to clear snow, LED lighting to light the way, trunking for stormwater and utilities, and the ability to find broken segments (potholes) instantly.
Obviously it will never work, but why not?
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(Score: 2) by etherscythe on Friday May 23 2014, @03:43PM
Do not underestimate the incredible power of brake dust. All that crap that builds up on your undercarriage, engine compartment, etc.? Brake dust, a lot of it.
The only place I see anything like this working is to power the lights at intersections. It's a moderate step up from the solar-powered blinking lights ringing stop signs in my area. Even so, they don't put those panels on/in the road - they put them overhead. I just don't see replacing cheap asphalt with expensive solar panels to work out well. Would they start issuing big ticket fines to people who have oil leaks? To say nothing of street sweepers being entirely insufficient to clean at an optical quality level.
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