Solar Energy Harvesting from Roadways

All day long the transportation infrastructure receives solar energy from the sun rays, storing much of them as heat that is left to dissipate by nightfall. The concept of harvesting solar energy from roadways is enticing because it offers a way to collect solar energy by utilizing an extensive infrastructure that already exists. Thus, an attempt was made to investigate novel methods for solar energy harvesting and conversion with potential economic efficiency substantially beyond that of current technology. One of four potential approaches would be utilizing current photovoltaic technology, a comparative study was conducted between rigid and flexible solar panels. Secondly, embedding pipes into pavement structure has been accomplished on a small scale, intended for residential homes on small walkways or paths. Thirdly, thermoelectric devices was designed with enough voltage (1-3 volts) to store and convert solar energy to electricity in rechargeable batteries through utilizing the Seebeck effect. Then, a solar roadway has been proposed which uses drop in solar panels as the roadway and/or a solar cell system embedded in a composite material structure that can be used on a road surface under severe loading conditions.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADC60 Waste Management and Resource Efficiency in Transportation.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Lee, K Wayne
  • 0000-0002-5204-9493
  • Correia, Andrew J
  • Lee, Kwang-Ho
  • Neilan, Brett D J
  • Gregor, Savannah
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 93rd Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC
  • Date: 2014-1-12 to 2014-1-16
• Date: 2014

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Maps; Photos; References;
• Pagination: 18p
• Monograph Title: TRB 93rd Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cells (Measuring devices); Embedded systems; Energy conversion; Energy storage devices; Panels; Photovoltaic effect; Solar energy; Thermoelectric materials
• Subject Areas: Energy; Highways; Pavements; I20: Design and Planning of Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01506383
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 14-4380
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 3 2014 9:17AM