Solar roadways Some clever people in the US have developed technology that not only makes road travel safer, it also generates electricity. Idaho company Solar Roadways’ proprietary technology is basically a modular road surface made from tempered glass with traction properties similar to asphalt, allowing vehicles and pedestrians to travel in safety while maintaining the integrity of the road. The road panels employ some very smart technologies, such as microprocessors that allow individual panels to communicate with each other and with vehicles. LEDs have also been included to create road signage without the use of paint. That means the road surface can change markings to suit the conditions of the road ahead. For example, the technology can inform drivers that pedestrians or animals are crossing a road nearby, giving road users enough warning to improve safety. But a tech-packed solution like Solar Roadways’ ‘smart highway’ needs electricity to deliver all these fancy features – and you can’t exactly plug a highway into the mains. These smart highways are photovoltaic, drawing their power directly from the sun. If deployed in enough areas, the roads can even generate clean electricity to feed into the national grid. While the technology has wide applications for highways across the globe, it will first be used for non-critical infrastructure, such as driveways and parking lots, allowing electricity to be generated for direct use from households and businesses.