Putting us in the shade on sustainable energy

While our government reduces investment in sustainable energy and steps away from green policies, in other parts of the world the ideas for sustainable energy production put us in the shade.

Coming from a small company in the United States is an idea that could produce more renewable energy than the whole county uses – now that is astounding when you think about it.

Hexagonal glass solar panels with LED lights can be installed on the surface of the road, driveways, parking lots or any other flat surface to generate power. 

Credit: Solar Roadways

The possibilities are endless – for private users as well as for governments. Essentially you could pave your driveway in these hexagonal panels and charge up your electric car and light up your house. Then again governments could build roads with the solar panels and hook up the resultant energy to the grid.

The company called Solar Roadways is now into the crowdsourcing game to raise funds to move into production.

This all might sound far fetched, but the panels have undergone rigorous testing and can take the weight of trucks. They are also looking at whether recycled materials can be used to make the panels and whether storm water can be collected and send it to a treatment facility.

Perhaps in our very sunny country, we could think again about where we invest for alternative energy sources.