Solar Roadways installs energy harvesting parking lot
Solar Roadways installs energy harvesting parking lot. Roanoke’s Transportation Division has been in touch with the Brusaws since 2010 regarding their exciting R&D.
http://ht.ly/x6dtj
About 8 years ago, an electrical engineer and his counselor wife started throwing around an idea to replace asphalt on highways and byways throughout the US with electricity-producing solar panels that were tough enough to be driven upon. The idea blossomed into a project, where the panels featured built-in LEDs that could “paint the road” with markings and warnings, and could be heated to prevent snow and ice build up. The US Federal Highway Administration paid for the couple to produce a working prototype, which they did, and then again to expand the concept into an operational parking lot setup. As the latter contract comes to an end, the Solar Roadways project has released photos of the (almost) completed installation at its Idaho electronics lab. Now the team is dipping into crowd-funding waters with a campaign to raise funds for the move into commercial production.
the Solar Roadways project has hit Indiegogo (starting, appropriately enough, on Earth Day) to help raise enough money to hire a team of engineers and other professionals, streamline the production process and move into manufacturing proper.
A lofty funding target of $1 million has been set, and the project will receive all funding, even if the campaign goal is not met. Rewards include t-shirts, coffee mugs, a backer’s name engraved on one of the prototype’s 396 mounting hole covers, and samples of the toughened glass.
This winter, Milwaukee will trial Cheese Brine for Road Deicing
This winter, Milwaukee will trial Cheese Brine for Road Deicing – Streets with a cheese aroma – Wow!? http://ht.ly/r60Ml
Why more roads in Wisconsin will smell like cheese this winter
Wisconsin is mining its natural resources to keep citizens safe on the roads in the winter, even though this particular resource — cheese brine — does come with its own “distinctive odor.” Brine is a liquid byproduct of cheese, and it costs cheese-makers thousands of dollars every year to dispose of it. Several years ago, a rural highway employee named Emil Norby thought the salty brine might make a great substitute for the rock salt and sand used to treat icy roads, and it worked. In that year, Polk County saved $30,000 on cheese brine disposal costs and $40,000 on rock salt. Milwaukee is planning to try the brine solution this winter, and if it’s successful, it will be the biggest city ever to use cheese brine as a de-icer. Wooo! Regarding the scent, it’s probably best to take a page from Norby’s book and be philosophical about it. “I don’t really mind it,” he told Modern Farmer. “Our roads smell like Wisconsin!”
Urban Roads Increasingly Deteriorated, Vehicle repairs up $800/yr. Is your City on the List?
Urban Roads Increasingly Deteriorated, Vehicle Repairs up as much as $800/Yr. Where is your City on this list? http://ht.ly/pGbFj
A 2010 U.S. Department of Transportation report found that the nation would need to increase annual funding for road and highway improvements by 21 percent to keep them in their current condition, by 51 percent to make a modest improvement in overall conditions and by 91 percent to make significant improvement to their condition.
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