Solar Roadways?

God knows that the constant repaving of our roads has given reason to driver frustration and cynical comments like "repair season" which is apparently 8-9 months a year here in Maine. I agree with this guy that the current technology is antiquated. The useful lifetime of asphalt and the cost of repairs is certainly driving taxes ever upward.

I'd suspect that the paving industry will object to wide scale adoption of this type of technology since road repairs is a multi billion dollar industry; one that is likely rife with payoffs, ripoffs and fantastic profits for those on the inside.

I have reservations as to the reliability of the entire LED light scheme; the LED lights that I've purchased, flashlights, desk lighting etc. have all had failure rates that disappointed me. I don't understand how the LEDs in my appliances, TVs, guitar gear and so on can last for decades but an LED flashlight develops issues in less than a year. I had purchased some nice LED lights to go under the shelving on the hutch of my home office desk and almost every single one failed within 3-4 months and the replacements have also failed. I also note that Lowes no longer carries that light fixture anymore. Perhaps it's just cheap construction.

I also have questions about how well this road will respond to the winters of the north, will they buckle when the temps swing 50 degrees in a day? How will they withstand the salts, the snow plows, chains on tires, studded snows?

Still it's an off the grid idea and I think we need to encourage more of that type of thinking.