SOLAR PANEL

ROADS
 INTRODUCTION

The Solar Roadways consists of structurally engineered solar panels

that we drive on.

Each Solar Road Panel (roughly 12’ by 12’) interlinks with

neighboring panels to form the Solar Roadways system.

The Solar Roadway generates electrical power from the sun and
becomes a nation’s decentralized, intelligent, self-healing power
grid, replacing our current deteriorating power distribution
infrastructure.
 SOLAR ROADWAY
A solar roadway is a series of structurally engineered solar panels that
are driven upon.

The idea is to replace current petroleum-based asphalt roads, parking

lots, and driveways with solar road panels that collect energy to be used
by homes and businesses, and ultimately to be able to store excess
energy in or alongside the solar roadways.

The renewable energy generated by solar road panels will replace the
current need for fossil fuel, which in turn reduces the greenhouse gases.
 STRUCTURAL DESIGN
REQUIREMENTS

 The structure must be able to support the cyclic distributed load

from vehicle tires without failing through deformation, fracture.

 The transparent layer cannot deflect over the cell compartments

so much that the layer transmits load to the solar cells.     

 The structure must be corrosion resistant to potential

contaminants. 
 STRUCTURAL DESIGN
REQUIREMENTS

 The design must be modular and facilitate easy maintenance.      

 For this prototype's purposes, the panel must be made out of readily
available components and materials.      

 The weight of the panel must be low enough such that it can be easily
maneuvered for testing and installation purposes.
 ELECTRICAL DESIGN REQUIREMENTS

The panel should be designed so that no shading of the solar cells

occurs.  

The interconnection between the cells should be strong enough to

withstand potential deflections from the optical layer.  
  
The panel must be weatherproof so that water and other
contaminants are not able to interfere with the electronics.  
  
There must be a diode installed on the output electrical line of the
panel to block reverse currents, as this would damage the solar
 LAYERS OF SOLAR
PANEL ROAD
Road Surface Layer:
 The road surface layer is semi- transparent and is of high strength.
 The sunlight can still pass through it to the cells where solar energy is
collected.

Electronics Layer
 A number of ultra capacitors are also fitted in this layer to store energy for
future use.

Base Plate Layer:

 It has the responsibility of distributing the power being collected from the
electronic layer.
 ELECTRONICS LAYER
It transmits the load around the solar cells.

It contains a microprocessor board with support circuitry for sensing loads on

the surface and controlling a heating element with a view to reducing or
eliminating snow and ice removal as well as school and business closings due to
inclement weather.

The microprocessor controls lighting, communications, monitoring, etc.

With a communications device every 3.66m (12 feet), a solar roadway can be an
intelligent highway system.
 BASE PLATE LAYER
It has the responsibility of distributing the power being collected from the
electronic layer. The energy thus collected is transmitted to homes linked
to the Solar Roadway.

While the electronics layer collects energy from the sun, it is the base
plate layer that distributes that power as well as data signals (phone,
TV, internet, etc.) down the line to all homes and businesses connected to
the solar roadway.

It has to transmit the load to a pavement, subgrade, or base structure. It

needs to be weatherproof to protect the electronics layer above it.
 PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL
The main philosophy of solar roadways is to convert solar energy into
electrical energy by the principle of photovoltaics.

Photovoltaics (PV) is a method of generating electrical power by converting

solar radiation into direct current electricity using semiconductors that
exhibit the photovoltaic effect. 
Photovoltaic power generation employs solar panels composed of a number
of solar cells containing a photovoltaic material. To understand how
photovoltaic operate, the nature of sunlight has to be understood.

The structure of all type of light consists of electromagnetic radiation

which is similar to micro and radio waves.
 PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL

When an electromagnetic radiation becomes incident on a semiconductor

material (p-n junction), the photons are absorbed by the material and
electrons are knocked loose from the atoms in the semiconductor
material.

If electrical conductors are attached to the positive and negative sides,

forming an electrical circuit, the electrons can be captured in the form of
an electric current, that is, electricity.

This electricity can then be used to power a load, such as a light or a tool.
MECHANISM

Therefore, to collect the carriers before they lose the

energy gained from the light, a PN junction is typically
used.  
  
A PN junction consists of two different regions of a
semiconductor material (usually silicon), with one side
called the p type region and the other the n-type region.

During the incident of light energy, in p-type material,

electrons can gain energy and move into the n-type
region. 

 Then they can no longer go back to their original low

energy position and remain at a higher energy.            
 MECHANISM

The process of moving a light- generated carrier from p-type

region to n-type region is called collection.   

These collections of carriers (electrons) can be either extracted

from the device to give a current, or it can remain in the device
and gives rise to a voltage.  
 
The electrons that leave the solar cell as current give up their
energy to whatever is connected to the solar cell, and then re-
enter the solar cell.

Once back in the solar cell, the process begins again.

 ADVANTAGES
The Solar Roadway distributes its electrical power to all
businesses and homes connected to the system via their parking
lots and driveways (made up of Solar Road Panels).

In addition to electrical power, data signals (cable TV, high-

speed internet, telephone, etc.) also travel through the Solar
Roadways, which acts as a conduit for these signals (cables).

This feature eliminates the unsightly power lines, utility poles,

and relay stations we see all over the countryside.
 ADVANTAGES

Military And Rescue Assitants

In the event of an environmental disaster or military emergency,
Solar roadways would provide power when it is needed most.
As Solar power is renewable, it obviously requires no external
connection to an artificial power source.

On-the-Go Charging
With induction plating embedded inside these roads, all electric
cars can be recharged while in motion on top of these roads.
This would reduce the costs and the time-inconvenience to wait at
a charging station.
 DISADVANTAGES

Initially, the start up and maintenance costs of building such roadways

and parking lots is extremely high.

The average efficiency is currently 20%.

It cannot be constructed in the poorest developing nations due to the

high initial start-up costs.
 CONCLUSION
Solar roadway is a roadway which utilizes renewable energy(sunlight)
source and converts them into electrical or thermal energy.

It mainly consists of two configurations i.e. using copper pipes to collect

the heat energy formed in the pavement and use it to melt snow formed
in the pavement during winter.

The second configuration is the use photovoltaics to take the sunlight

energy and use them to convert into electricity which can be used for
street lights