Solar Roadways
La Ville Radieuse - Le Corbusier's vision of the utopian city, the road on ground, the pedestrian on bridges and the city in the skies (ArchDaily, 2014)
Originally envisioned by Le Corbusier as the solution to equality, modernity and urbanism, the radial city provided the individual with autonomy, via the automobile (Merin, 2013). The vision became misinterpreted as the independent home, the separation between the urban commercial heart and a radial suburban household and led to the disaster we now recognise as urban sprawl. One of the precipitates of this urban sprawl is what we now call the Urban Heat Island effect (UHI). Characterised as the result of our built environment absorbing heat during the day and dissipating it overnight, the Urban Heat Island has generated uncomfortable inner city environments as well as contributing to increased energy consumption for heating and cooling (USEPA, 2013).
The Urban Heat Island Effect. Urbanised area tends to have higher temperatures as a result of material absorption and reflection. (USEPA, 2013).
The black asphalt surfaces of our many highways as well as inner city streets has been one of the major contributors to this Urban Heat Island effect and an innovative pair of entrepreneurs has now intervened with the hope of solving this problem. Solar Roadways, pioneered by Julie and Scott Brusaw, proposes to repave our road with “a modular photovoltaic (PV) paving system that can withstand the heaviest of trucks – up to 120,000 kilograms.” (Designboom, 2014). These glass tiles, firstly provide the potential of replacing our unsustainable system of oil-based asphalt roads but also mean easier replacement, easier electronic embedding and overall, a more logical approach to road network design.
The conceptual proposal: integrated lighting for solar pathways, self-sufficient
and improved night-time vision. (Designboom, 2014).
Prototype II - The inventors showcase their carpark paving for solar roadways. (Designboom, 2014).
At its core however is of course the important fact that these hexagonal panels are “conceived as an initiative to change the face of national highways by re-purposing them with photo-voltaic panels” (Designboom, 2014). While each panel produces only a small amount of light, combined they have the potential to make our road lighting entirely self-sufficient. It is also my view that through the use of glass, rather than asphalt and if carefully designed and insulated, the material has the potential to reduce heat absorption and thus reduce the Urban Heat Island effect occurring in our inner cities.
LED Lights providing potential evening lighting or traffic condition indicators, endless potentials are possible. (Designboom, 2014).
Snow-proof. These resilient tiles will certainly make roadwork
easier while also providing electricity. (Designboom, 2014).
Having now moved on to a prototype II phase, I believe this project has the potential to fundamentally alter the design of urban road systems. Potentially, traffic lights, street lights, street information and even road markings could become powered self-sufficiently and with LEDs, could change to reflect changing road conditions. Heating pipes would be wound in to allow ice to be melted in the snowy countries and electricity collected could also be re-fed into a main grid. Most daringly perhaps is the proposition that “an electric road allows all-electric vehicles to recharge anywhere” (Solar Roadways, 2014), meaning that in future, rest and recharge stations could be integrated with our road networks.
While this project may still be in its infancy, what I believe is evident in Solar Roadways is a devotion to innovation and sustainability. In recognising that people wish to retain their automotive independence, Solar Roadways does not seek to force people into public transport or indeed propose the replacement of the car. Instead, it operates intelligently, aiming to integrate a sustainable system into an existing unsustainable system, offering a truly innovative solution to our highways, and our urban heat islands.
References
Designboom. “Smart streets and solar roadways produce electricity for the power-grid”. (14 May 2014). Retrieved on 15 May 2014 from: http://www.designboom.com/technology/smart-streets-solar-roadways-power-grid-05-14-2014/
Gili Merin. “AD Classics: Ville Radieuse/ Le Corbusier”. (11 August 2013). ArchDaily. Retrieved 15 May 2014 from: http://www.archdaily.com/411878/ad-classics-ville-radieuse-le-corbusier/
Solar Roadways. (2014). “Introduction”. Retrieved 15 May 2014 from: http://solarroadways.com/intro.shtml
United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2013). “What is an Urban Heat Island?” Retrieved on 15 May 2014 from: http://www.epa.gov/heatisland/about/index.htm