SAGLE, Idaho -- A North Idaho engineer has a unique plan to save money, produce energy, and reduce the nation's dependence on oil. He wants to cover the roads in solar panels. Now he has the attention of the federal government.
When Scott Brusaw is behind the wheel, he sees a lot more than just the road ahead. He sees miles and miles of asphalt criss-crossing the United States. The electrical engineer from Sagle, Idaho wants to cover all 28,000 miles of U.S. roads, plus parking lots, with solar panels.
"It would produce three times more electricity then we've ever used as a nation annually," said Scott.
Energy from the panels would course into the nation's power grid. Because of that, Scott says the system would pay for itself over time. The Federal Highway Administration likes the idea. It awarded Scott's company, called Solar Roadways, a $100,000 contract to continue his research.
Computer controlled L.E.D. lights create lines on the road. That same program could create other benefits. When pedestrians step on a crosswalk, it warns drivers to slow down. The road surface would also be heated eliminating the use of snow plows.
Scott has always had big dreams. When he was six years old, he envisioned a road system like his childhood slot car track. Scott's dream grew up with him. He wants to start with parking lots first before moving on to roads. Businesses with solar parking lots would power themselves by tapping the energy right outside their doors.
The next step would be residential roads and finally the nation's highways. All of them paved with glass solar panels engineered to be as strong as steel. Scott says it can be done with technology that is already available.
Scott knows there are naysayers. He recalls the Wright brothers when he feels frustrated.
"I thought, you know, if they flew that airplane back in 1903. If they had the internet back then, say, 1901, they would have announced on their website, we're going to fly a heavier-than-air machine. Can you imagine what the bloggers would have done to them," said Scott.
Scott could soon have hundreds of thousands of new reasons to stay optimistic. The government just invited him to apply for a second contract. It would be $750,000 in funding that would allow him to build and test a real solar parking lot.
He knows changing the nation's highway and power system will not happen in a flash.
"Hopefully if you come out for a follow up story in 10 years, you'll be driving across solar roads to get here," said Scott.
He hopes we will be driving an electric vehicle too. With solar roads, Scott envisions plenty of places for electric vehicles to plug in for a charge.
Scott plans on building a 36 foot stretch of solar road if he is awarded a second government contract. He says he would use it to test different types of solar cells through all weather and sunlight conditions.
