Solar Parking Lots
Aug 28th, 2008 at 10:34 am by Susie
Anyone who has walked barefoot across a parking lot on a hot summer day knows that blacktop is exceptionally good at soaking up the sun’s warmth. Now, a research team at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has found a way to use that heat-soaking property as a source of renewable energy. Through asphalt, the researchers are developing a solar collector that could turn roads and parking lots into ubiquitous — and inexpensive — sources of electricity and hot water.
The research project, which was undertaken at the request of Michael Hulen, president of Novotech Inc. in Acton, Mass, a company that currently holds a patent on the concept of using the heat absorbed by pavements, is being directed by Rajib Mallick, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.
Last week at the annual symposium of the International Society for Asphalt Pavements in Zurich, Switzerland, team member Bao-Liang Chen, a PhD candidate at WPI, presented the results of research aimed at evaluating the potential for transforming stretches of asphalt into a cost-effective energy source. The study looked not only at how well asphalt can collect solar energy, but also at the best way to construct roads and parking lots to maximize their heat-absorbing qualities.
“Asphalt has a lot of advantages as a solar collector,” Mallick said. “For one, blacktop stays hot and could continue to generate energy after the sun goes down, unlike traditional solar-electric cells. In addition, there is already a massive acreage of installed roads and parking lots that could be retrofitted for energy generation, so there is no need to find additional land for solar farms,” he said.
Farking brilliant! If this was actually put into place it would change my whole opinion of the San Fernando Valley.
They paved paradise and put up a solar collector.
lol, very nice.
I, too, have been working on an idea to turn our parking lots into solar collector fields but with shade structures that have photovoltaic cells laminated in glass for a relatively light weight roof. This would keep the cars cool (a lot of energy is consumed cooling cars that are 120+ degrees inside) as well as generating electricity and have an aesthetic component which as you will see from my web site is my field, making beautiful structures. I believe that a big reason solar isn’t more prevalent is that for the most part the solar panels are eyesores. I do understand that the cells laminated on glass are not quite as efficient but it is a trade off that would be worth it. The design possibilities are tremendous.