Solar Roadways has raised over $2.25 million in funding through its fundraiser on crowdfunding platform Indiegogo and if you’re wondering just what for, you might be pleasantly surprised to find that the plan is to craft snow-melting, greenhouse gas reducing solar panels which you can drive, park and walk on.
The solar panel roadways, which the company refers to as “modular paving” with solar panels, can withstand trucks weighing up to 250,000 pounds, according to the product’s creators who also claim that the panels can help pay for themselves by generating electrical power which can be used to power home homes and so forth.
As a result of the implementation of the product, its innovators believe that a nationwide energy system could be created which not only serves as the foundation for roadways, but also as a clean source of renewable energy. While the notion might sound farfetched to some, the Solar Roadways project has already received not one, but two phases of funding from the U.S. Federal Highway Administration for research and development.
For those wondering just when these panels will be made available to the world at large, the company claims on its Indiegogo page that we should be seeing them come 2016, but those made initially available will be intended for non-critical applications such as parking lots, driveways, bike paths, sidewalks and the like, not major roads and highways — at least, not yet.
The original Indiegogo campaign for the project achieved 220 percent of its funding goal on June 20, 2014.
Presently, the campaign has raised over $2.25 million.
To contribute, check out Solar Roadways on Indiegogo.
