5 Coolest Solar Inventions For The Road!

With an ever-increasing population, the roads have become super busy in modern times. They need a lot of power for proper functioning eg. in solar street lights, signage etc. Many a time, road accidents have been reported because of faulty lighting conditions or improper display of signage on roads. Given below are 5 of the coolest solar inventions for the roads. By using these, cities can cut on some of the power requirement on the roads and can put to use the extra energy generated eg. in creating Electric vehicle charging stations. Not only will they be eco-friendly but also practically maintenance free. Let’s have a look at them!

5. Solar Street Lights – Solar Street lights can be either standalone systems or centrally operated. The standalone solar street lighting system comprises of a Solar Panel, Lead acid battery for Energy Storage, Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL)/ LED lights as light source, suitable electronics and hardware like a pole, battery box for fixing of these sub system. The system is controlled by a controller with automatic ON/OFF time switch, which controls the light from dusk till morning or other setting time. Since there are no wires associated with the solar street lights, there is less risk of accidents. The maintenance associated with solar lights are very less as compared to the other street lights.

4. Solar Roads – Solar Roadways panels are made up of special tempered glass that is very strong and can even support small trucks on road. These panels are modular and can be removed in case of any breakdown or malfunctioning. These are hexagonal in shape and covers 4.39 square feet in area, available in 12W, 24W, 36W and 48W. They can be used on roads, driveways, parking lots, courtyard or even the area around your swimming pool. These solar roads can also serve as an additional facility to easily recharge electric vehicles on the go.

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3. Solar Powered Bricks – Solar powered bricks are an easy, hassle free and easy on pocket option for lightning your garden or path outside your house. A unit of solar brick comprises of LED light fitted with a small solar panel. Once fully charged (8 hours), these solar bricks can work for 8-10 uninterrupted hours, without the need of any other power source.

2. Solar Roadways – Solar roadways coupled with electric vehicles could be an ideal solution to today’s growing problem of global air pollution. Specially engineered solar panels or solar roads along with LED lights could be used to create road signage. Another advantage of using such roadways is the prevention of snow accumulation in colder regions. I think it is one of the best solar inventions yet to be applied worldwide, given the rising pollution problems in especially the developing economies like India. India can also use this solution in developing its smart cities.

1. Solar Powered Traffic Signs – Traffic signs using electronic ink are already prevalent in Australia. But these run on solar power. These lights can be charged using the sun’s power during the day and are illuminated at night to show direction to the driver. A whole unit consists of high intensity optical LED’s (50,000 hours life span), lead acid battery, monocrystalline solar panels. They can be viewed from a distance of more than 500 metres and are capable of working for 10 continuous nights on a single charge.