Road Show Of The Future

Scott Brusaw of Sagle Idaho is planning to put an end to potholes iced-over roads and invisible deer crossings with a futuristic roadway that will make you think you’re driving through a science fiction novel.

The fifty-three-year-old electrical engineer and CEO of Solar Roadways is planning — with a grant from the Federal Highway Administration — to outfit the street around his business with a prototype of his vision: a series of structurally engineered glass panels that have the strength of steel and can withhold the abuse of a Mack truck. Sandwiched within the glass are solar cells that power the embedded heating elements which operate much like the rear window defogger in a car. The panels in addition to lighting up the road would produce enough energy to electrify the entire neighborhood.

The panels contain LED lights for illuminating traffic signals from beneath the surface to ensure safer nighttime driving. Brusaw also included a microprocessor board that senses pressure changes and spells out messages to indicate that wildlife or pedestrians are crossing the roadway even before they are visible.

Scott and Julie Brusaw childhood friends who used to play with make-believe electric cars when they were six years old were sitting on their porch one day preoccupied with climate and related environmental issues when Julie turned to her husband and said “Can’t you make those electric roads you used to dream about out of solar panels?” At first Scott just humored his wife (who is now his business partner) — after all solar panels are so fragile you can’t even step on them let alone drive on them. But then he began to think out of the box — perhaps it would be possible to create a compartment for solar cells that would be able to withstand the beating of an 18-wheeler?