Case study of
#00142 Embed photovoltaics directly into the running surface of roads and paths
Sandpoint, Idaho, USA
#00140
Implementer
Solar Roadways Inc.
Timeline
Sep 1, 2016 – Dec 1, 2018
Location
Description
The most publicized test of surface-embedded PV. Solar Roadways Inc. installed ~30 hexagonal PV tiles (~13.9 m²) in a public square in Sandpoint, Idaho, funded by ~US$2.2M in Indiegogo crowdfunding plus US Department of Transportation federal grants, totalling ~US$3.9M and 6.5 years of development. Around 18 of 30 panels were dead on arrival due to manufacturing faults; rain knocked out several more, leaving roughly 5 functional within the first week. Control electronics later smoked and triggered a fire response. The installation was shut down in December 2018. Even reduced to a low-load sidewalk setting with no vehicle traffic, output averaged a fraction of a kWh/day and wildly underperformed nearby conventional rooftops.
Metrics
4Funding
Lessons learned
- Flat, road-embedded PV forfeits ~30–40% of yield to orientation before any shading or soiling — the concept fights physics, not just engineering.
- Embedded LEDs and snow-melt heating can consume more than 25% of what the panels generate, gutting net output.
- Viral crowdfunding and political endorsement substituted for, and delayed, basic independent engineering validation — no independent engineering review was completed before public deployment.
- Even reduced to a low-load sidewalk (no vehicle traffic), the array underperformed nearby conventional rooftops, indicating the concept fails regardless of traffic load.
Sources
3Documented Jul 13, 2026
History
· 1Arnaud Gissinger · 5h ago · approved by Arnaud Gissinger 5h ago