Intelligent Solar Roadway System and Solar Roadway Panels
AssigneeSolar Roadways Incorporated
InventorsScott David Brusaw, Julie Ann Brusaw
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An intelligent roadway system of trafficable solar roadway panels for collecting solar energy, converting the solar energy into electricity, illuminating LEDs, storing and distributing the electrical energy and sensing dynamic conditions on and about the trafficable solar roadway panels and communicating the sensed dynamic conditions and precise global positioning system (GPS) location of the sensed dynamic conditions to a user for use.
Claims15
An intelligent solar roadway system of pedestrian and vehicular traffic bearing solar panels for collecting and transforming solar energy to electric energy, providing the electrical energy for use and for providing information to and receiving information from pedestrians and vehicles traveling upon the intelligent solar roadway system, comprising:
- a multiplicity of operatively and physically interconnected traffic bearing solar panels secured on a supportive surface so that each of the traffic bearing solar panels has at least one edge portion immediately adjacent at least one edge portion of an immediately adjacent traffic bearing solar panel to form a generally planar, continuous, trafficable surface for pedestrian and vehicular traffic travel thereover, each of the multiplicity of traffic bearing solar panels having;
- a transparent traffic bearing surface with a first upper glass panel and a second panel and a plurality of spacedly arrayed photovoltaic cells, a plurality of spacedly arrayed illumination devices, a heating element and electronic circuitry between the first upper glass panel and the second panel,
- a controller that operatively communicates with the electronic circuitry, the plurality of illumination devices, the heating element, an electric energy storage apparatus, at least one sensor that senses dynamic conditions, and with controllers of other traffic bearing solar panels of the intelligent solar roadway system for communication therebetween, and for providing information to, and receiving information from, vehicles and pedestrians traveling upon, or proximate to, the traffic bearing solar panels, and wherein the controller, directs electrical energy to select illumination devices to cause illumination thereof, and/or to the heating element, and/or to an inverter to convert direct current electricity from the plurality of photovoltaic cells to alternating current electricity and/or to convert alternating current electricity to direct current electricity for use, and
- a base for mechanically interconnecting each traffic bearing solar panel to the supporting surface for formation of the generally planar, continuous, trafficable surface;
- and
- each traffic bearing solar panel has a multiplicity of predetermined surface sections, and when the traffic bearing solar panel is secured to the supporting surface, each of the multiplicity of predetermined surface sections has a single precise global positioning system (GPS) location;
- and
- the at least one sensor, in communicating with the controller, senses the physical presence of a pedestrian and/or vehicle traveling upon, or adjacent to, the traffic bearing solar panel and the single precise GPS location of the predetermined surface section being traveled upon, and communicates the sensed presence and/or the single precise GPS location to the controller;
- and
- each respective controller, utilizing the single precise GPS location received from the respective sensor, determines a current position, a current direction and a current velocity of the pedestrian and/or vehicular traffic traveling upon the respective predetermined surface section of the traffic bearing solar panel and based upon the determined current position, determined current direction and determined current velocity, and a known prior position, a known prior direction, and a known prior velocity of the pedestrian and/or vehicular traffic traveling upon the traffic bearing solar panels the respective controller determines a predicted future position and/or a predicted future direction and/or a predicted future velocity of the pedestrian and/or vehicular traffic traveling upon the respective predetermined surface section of the traffic bearing solar panel, and the respective controller communicates the predicted future position and/or the predicted future direction and/or the predicted future velocity to controllers of adjacent and other traffic bearing solar panels;
- and
- the respective controllers operatively communicate the determined current position, current direction and/or current velocity and the predicted future position and/or direction and/or velocity of the pedestrians and/or vehicular traffic traveling upon the traffic bearing solar panels to the pedestrian and vehicles traveling upon the solar roadway panels so that the pedestrians and vehicles traveling upon the traffic bearing solar panels receive and may utilize the communicated and received information to control and/or alter control of the pedestrian and/or vehicle traveling upon the intelligent solar roadway system automatically or manually.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.