The Solar Highways they are building here in Oregon are just highways that have solar panels on the shoulder, but that sounds like an interesting concept. I do have to wonder about durability, and decreased efficiency when they get dirty from all the traffic rolling on top of them. I'm assuming this would also cut down on the heat generated by the sun baking asphault roads.

7 years does sound pretty frequent, but I have seen some highways that do get repaved, or at least repaired that often--but they have very high traffic volumes.

I think that the wear and tear on the panels is grossly underestamated. Here in canada they would still have to be cleared of snow, as they would in the upper states as well. And dispite the snowclearing. asphalt (although it is hard to see it.) is flexable, so when heavy vehicles pass over it will compless slightly and spring back due to the rubber like property of tar. I think his biggest flaw is in the coating that goes over the panel, and that the electronics won't be as flexable as he neeeds them to be.

just my 2 cents. i'm no engineer or physicist.

The demonstration project is just a few miles south of me, at the southern interchange of I-5 & I-205 in Tualatin. I guess things have been going good, because the plan is to build more, including a 3.2 MW project (plus others elsewhere in the state) closer to me in West Linn. However, the people who live across the river in Oregon City are mounting opposition because they don't want to look at them. They certainly can't be any uglier than the freeway; it's not like they're covering the entire hillside, just a small portion along the road.

well if ya read it they are not talking about normal coating on solar panels but an entire layer of material that is clear and designed to take the load...

either way i think its interesting