Could Solar Panels Replace Concrete or Asphalt Roads?

According to Mike Barnard, a Senior Fellow - Wind at Energy and Policy Institute, yes, they could. But there's a very big but, so to speak. The basic engineering of solar roadways seems robust and fairly well thought through, he said. Could they do so economically? It’s very difficult to see how, Barnard added. Roads right now are as cheaply made and as poorly maintained as possible, he writes. That’s because there are too many of them by any reasonable standard and they are expensive to build and maintain.

"Solar roadways make them a lot more expensive - 10 to 40 times more expensive depending on assumptions - and in theory create the ability to avoid some costs and make some other costs more viable, but a lot of the additional value seems pretty flimsy. They will be unable to overcome this massive cost increase through generating electricity."