The very idea of making use of solar cells in our roads sounds like a surefire way to help reduce the amount of energy consumed by the local authorities to keep our roads lighted up after dusk all the way to the next morning. However, to implement such an idea might prove to be more challenging than one would have expected, but thankfully, it has received the support of the masses in a crowdfunding project known as Solar Roadways, with the campaign being extended to June 20th this month, where it needs to raise more than $1.5 million by then in order to have a shot at being realized in the real world.

Basically, the Solar Roadways concept would rely on a textured glass surface that will boast of embedded solar cells, and these solar cells will hopefully be able to harvest the energy of the sun throughout the day in order to generate electricity. This electricity would come in handy during winter as it helps keep the road warm to melt snow and reduce the hazards associated with a snowy road, while depicting safety warnings thanks to built-in LEDs.

Not only that, the Solar Roadways project is touted to be robust enough to be able to withstand a whopping 250,000-pounds of weight, now how about that? It will first be implemented in the form of tiny parking lots, driveways and sidewalks should it actually take off before tackling more challenging issues.

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