Driving to work on solar panels?

Energy & Sustainability

I love that, for many of us here at MAKE, our families and friends get actively involved in sending us possible material for the magazine and site. Today, we ran a piece on some repair and maintenance tips from editorial assistant Laura Cochrane’s dad. And tonight, our creative director, Daniel Carter, sent along this video, emailed to him by his father, Don.

Very interesting idea. And it makes a certain kind of sense. There’s certainly no shortage of road surface. I wonder how daunting the engineering challenges are — that whole driving on glass thing? And then, there’s the immense expense. Still… [Thanks, Daniel! Thanks, Don!]

Solar highways

2 thoughts on “Driving to work on solar panels?

  1. Luke says:

    This is a neat idea. But how does this handle cold? I assume they would not be using this in Alaska. Since studs would tear the road up. Also snow and ice on this seems pretty scary.

    But if they get it to act just like cement or asphalt that seems like not a big issue.

    If power and phone and telephone came in I wonder what kind of down time you would have if they had to go fix the road and also what happens when the ground shifts and cracks popup and also if the power lines they use under the road would be damaged.

    Still I like the idea.

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Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.

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