Renewable Energy Collectors May Be Right Under Our Feet

[OneBlueSky]

Research at WPI explores turning highways and parking lots into solar collectors.
by Michael Dorsey, WPI
Massachusetts, United States

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com:80/rea/news/story?id=53352

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.

- more . . .

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com:80/rea/news/story?id=53352

[izquierdista]

1. Look up, not down

Asphalt SHINGLES. Asphalt ROOFING. Plus roofs tend to be higher in the air than parking lots (except for underground houses) and thus, less shaded by trees.

[Kablooie]

2. Finally! I'm glad someone is researching this. I brought this up a long time ago as an energy source

I thought of it after seeing a youtube clip of a guy taking a dare and running barefoot on hot asphalt. It ended with him screaming and shots of the skin on his sole peeling off.