The roads we drive on may have been marvels of asphaltian technology in the mid 20th century, but they're pretty outdated today. Hard to see at night in the rain, prone to potholes, they're driven on by gas-guzzling, emission-spewing vehicles. In cities and during hot weather, asphalt roads trap too much heat. Their gift to the animal world is the annual Roadkill Calendar. Unless you've got a job crunching rocks for the asphalt, what's to love?

You'd think that science, technology, and good old-fashioned inventiveness could turn this symbol of American prosperity and freedom into something fabulous and new. And hey, you'd be right. Idaho-dwelling ex-Marine Scott Brusaw--with help and a serious aha moment from his wife Julie--is building the LED-lit, microprocessor-controlled, electric-car-charging, snow-melting, pedestrian-accident-preventing, roadkill-reducing, stormwater-managing, solar-panel highway of the future.

Scott's an engineer, not a mad scientist. He didn't have to reinvent the wheel (so to speak) to make their great ideas workable; he simply adapted existing technologies, bringing them together in a new way. Glass can be made harder than steel. Trap solar panels, heating elements, LEDs, and sensors within the right glass, use recycled and organic materials for the rest, et voila: the intelligent Solar Road Panel is born. Scott and his crew at Solar Roadways built functioning prototypes of twelve-foot panels this year with funding from the US Department of Transportation.

Each panel has a road surface layer of a translucent, high-strength glass, protecting the solar collection cells, LEDs, and heating elements below. A layer of electronics contains a microprocessor and circuitry for controlling heat, sensing surface loads, and controlling communications. The base plate layer distributes solar power and data signals to all homes and businesses connected to the Solar Roadway.

Roads in snowy areas can contain heating elements to melt ice. LED lights can illuminate the road, so that driving is like playing a video game...or the LEDs can light up words relevant to driving conditions. Sensors can tell you if a person, animal, or large blockage is around the next curve. The smart highway's shoulder can house a pipeline that's easily accessed by utility companies, and stick all the fiber optic, electric, cable, and phone lines in there. Will it become reality? GE and the public seem to think so; out of nearly four thousand ideas submitted to the GE Ecomagination Challenge, Solar Roadways won the $50,000 award.

Scott Brusaw talks about being inspired by electric-road toy slot cars when he was six years old:

Or check out the YERP video:

h/t to Linda Castellani for the pointer!