Development of a Solar Prototype for Roadway

Abstract

This study is a preview of an ongoing project to develop a solar prototype for roadway to harness solar energy with the addition of transparent shield cover. Solar panel on roadway is a new research arena which has the potential to reform the conventional road network systems. Since pavements are often exposed to a great amount of solar energy throughout the day, they can be used to develop a technique which can accumulate and store this solar energy and later convert it into electricity. The development of the prototype involved selecting several polycarbonate materials as transparent shield covers containing different strength types and light transparency properties. In addition, it involved Finite Element Analysis of the prototypes under static load, Transmittance Spectra test for the transparent covers and generation of power using the prototypes. Initial results show a great potential of implementing this technique as a major pavement energy harvesting technology.