Remember when solar roads were all the rage?

There was a time back in 2014 when the idea of roads paved with solar panels was all the rage. An article in Interesting Engineering retells the history of the solar roadway hype:

As a fresh reminder, Solar Roadways became massively viral in 2014 after claiming to be the end-all solution to the global energy crisis. The idea was simple: to implant solar panels into roads to produce electricity. The panels were allegedly also going to light up the roads with different LED patterns, replacing painted lines. For the winter, heating coils could melt snow and ice – all while generating electricity and requiring less maintenance. 

The promise seemed too good to be true. And as it turns out, it was.

After years of development and millions of dollars (including government funding), none of the solar roadways installed today are cost-effective or efficient energy producers. The roads are expensive and produce far less electricity than what could be produced if the money was used on a solar farm – or by simply placing the panels by the side of the road.

As it turns out, there were many, many obstacles when it comes to turning roads into giant solar panels.

Solar roadways turned out to be a massive failure from an energy and financial standpoint. The article continues:

After years of development and millions of dollars (including government funding), none of the solar roadways installed today are cost-effective or efficient energy producers. The roads are expensive and produce far less electricity than what could be produced if the money was used on a solar farm – or by simply placing the panels by the side of the road.

As it turns out, there were many, many obstacles when it comes to turning roads into giant solar panels.

The reason solar roads were never going to pencil out is that they don’t get enough sunlight. The article also notes that solar roads are absurdly expensive:

“For the demonstration project in Idaho, the panels had an installed capacity of 1.529 KW with an installation of $48,734, which implies a cost per installed kW of around $33,000, about 20 times higher than for a solar power plant.”

Solar Roadway estimates that the LED lights would consume 106 MWh per lane mile, with the panels generating 415 MWh – so more than 25 percent of the useful power would be consumed by the LEDs. The heating plates would draw 2.28 MW per lane mile, which means that running them for just six days would cancel out any net gain from the solar panels.

Wind and solar advocates are constantly coming up with new ways to sell us the same unreliable energy systems, and unfortunately, the public as a whole usually falls for them. This is why Elon Musk is able to maintain his devoted following, even though ideas like the Hyperloop were always science fiction.