How Does A Solar Panel Road Work

Sunlight reaches the solar panels and they start working to generate an electric current dc.

How does a solar panel road work. Solar roadways have been promoted as a way to fight climate change put people to work and make driving safer. Nearly three years after france built a 0 6 mile stretch of photovoltaic road in normandy the government is deeming it a disappointing experiment. Let s start with the most obvious piece. These solar highways or solar roadways consist of individual solar panels with three layers.

The electric current dc starts to flow into the inverter which is responsible for converting dc electricity into ac which is the most commonly used form of electricity. A top layer of high strength textured glass that provides traction for vehicles an array of solar cells beneath that for gathering energy and a base plate that distributes the collected power according to solar roadways. In some of the newer instances that use this form of wiring the charge controller is already present the only piece that needs to be added is the solar panels themselves. Simply put a solar panel works by allowing photons or particles of light to knock electrons free from atoms generating a flow of electricity.

This prewired for solar rv included the installed charge controller but it did not have any solar panels installed from the factory. Solar panels actually comprise many smaller units. A solar roadway is any road that has some sort of solar panel technology attached to its surface thus producing electricity while also supporting the cars and trucks that drive on it. Solar road panels are made with layers of super strong glass embedded with photovoltaic cells electrical wiring and led lights which can be used to create signs on the surface directing traffic or alerting motorists to hazardous conditions.

They re more than just solar energy collectors too. But on closer inspection the reality is less than impressive. It s called a controller because it modifies how much energy reaches the battery so as not to overcharge them. While an interesting and innovative way to generate solar power solar roadways are far from being a realistic cost effective energy production method.