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?
(Score: 1) by qwerty on Friday May 23 2014, @07:03PM
It sounds neat in a simplistic way, considering the large area of roads on the planet. But driving oily cars over your collecting surface will quickly degrade the efficiency to zero. Plus, my cars seem to run better on driving surfaces with a good amount of friction to prevent the rubber from sliding across the double-yellow lines. In short, they would need a transparent suitably-frictioned surface that keeps itself optically clean while supporting the stress of traffic. It would likely be cheaper to instead construct a tunnel with photovoltaics spread across the roof.