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Several sites are running a story on the solar roadway installation in the Netherlands, including phys.org and IFLScience.
However over at EEV Blog is a thorough critical review by Dave Jones which runs through the numbers and finds it doesn't add up as a practical proposal. There's references to Dave's original review of an earlier proposal, for some background on the calculations.
From the associated forum posting:
Dave shows how to go about doing ballpark engineering feasibility calculations for such a project, calculates the expected payback period, and SPOILER, shows why Solar Roadways will never be a viable technology. This time using real measured data from the Netherlands cycleway prototype, and real measured solar insolation data for the Netherlands
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Thursday November 13 2014, @01:50PM
Dave did a separate video on that project which reached pretty much the same conclusions. Yes, it's possible, but the ROI is going to be shit.
Some of the problems are pretty basic, and even the team developing these admits it's a problem. For example, they propose heating the panels to clear snow. The specs on their own website say the heaters draw 72W, and the panels produce 36W. In other words, these panels still require external grid power if they're going to see nation-wide deployment. Or some truly *MASSIVE* storage system (Think 2.4GW is a lot? Try storing 24 THOUSAND GWh). Same goes for powering lights and sensors at night -- read the solar roadways website, they give numerous reasons these will *require* external grid power. From...what? Coal? Gas? Nuclear?
And again, putting a solar panel under thick glass, flat on the ground, under dirt and dust and road traffic will never be more efficient than putting that same panel on a rooftop. We've gotta rebuild roofs periodically just like we rebuild roads. Design a solar shingle instead of a solar roadway, you'll get a higher ROI.
There's also the fact that they promised to have data regarding the costs of these panels posted several months ago. Site still says they "will be doing so in July, 2014." They DO actually have some test results regarding power generation, but those mean nothing if you don't have a total system cost. They got over $2 million from that Indiegogo campaign, you'd think they could take five minutes to update the website in the months since...
I mean it certainly is a cool project, and we're probably heading there someday. I just think it's more likely to be plugged into fusion plants and consuming power rather than providing power to the entire country. They've put so many sensors and indicators into it that it can't even power *itself*!