Are there any efforts to develop asphalt and concrete solar energy collectors?

There are zillions of square yards of asphalt and concrete laid out all over the world. If someone could find a way to utilize even a small amount of the solar energy that falls on them, it could make a huge difference.

And someone would become very rich.

Wouldn't the difficulty be in storing that kind of energy? I don't know I'm not scientificially inclined, but I know whats hot when I step on it.

so they don't have to shovel, then there has to be a way!

send the idea to the NSF? or maybe a company on the edge of solar retrofitting...?

My girlfriend dos HUGE commercial solar arays...I'll fly the idea to her. If that's okay?

Have you done much traveling? The USA is unique in world in the way that hectares (oops, make that "acres", for those not on the metric system) of land are covered with asphalt and concrete. The only place you see huge parking lots outside of the USA is where there is an American style shopping mall. You know, the kind with so many parking spaces that the only time the parking lot is full is when a rock star comes to play a free concert inside. In most of Europe, pavers or cobbles are used instead of asphalt or poured concrete, and they alter the environment much less than the latter two.

Asphalt and concrete are already fairly good energy collectors. They collect solar energy during the day and release it at night, giving cities with lots of asphalt and concrete a "heat island" effect. In cool climes, this reduces the amount of energy individual buildings have to use to stay livable, but it is definitely a minus in hot climes, as it increases the need for air conditioning.

Not in huge parking lots but there are plenty of roads.

But hey, solar collecting pavers and cobbles wouldn't hurt either.

And once the trick to making a cobble stone into a solar collector is solved, it opens the way for Gibralter to supply all the power for southern Europe.

:}

above many of their street lights, gathering solar energy by day and using it to light the roads at night. If you take a bus trip through Camp Pendleton, you can see solar energy collectors virtually everywhere. They even have solar collection stations where electric cars can pull up and recharge their batteries on the side of the road.





http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/news/news_detail.html?news_id=9358

"...Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Pendleton has surpassed the federal government's mandated energy reduction goal of 35 percent for 2010 six years early, achieving a noteworthy 44 percent reduction in energy intensity from the FY 1985 baseline. One of the primary reasons for their successful energy program has been strong support throughout the chain of command, in particular, the strategic vision of Colonel Russell Eve, Assistant Chief of Staff Facilities; Edmund Rogers, Base Facilities Manager; Lieutenant Colonel Gregory Thomas, Facilities Maintenance Officer; and Jay Bergamini, Deputy Facilities Maintenance Officer.

Camp Pendleton holds an advantage over many other installations—that is, senior management continues to employ a full-time, dedicated federal energy manager. At other installations, the energy manager position is a collateral duty along with other responsibilities, so attention may often be diverted from energy issues to the "fire drill" of the day. For MCB Camp Pendleton, full-time energy manager Jeff Allen is instrumental to their day-to-day operations and the resulting achievements of significant energy reductions and cost savings.

(...)

These UESC and ESPC contracts focus on a variety of energy projects, including:

* Natural gas reduction: retrofitted more than 120 boilers and de-commissioned a large steam plant

* Electrical load reduction: retrofitted more than 700 traffic signal lights, 1,500 parking lot lights, 2,600 high intensity discharge lights, and 25,000 incandescent to compact fluorescent lamps; decommissioned 20,000 older fluorescent light fixtures and installed more than 1,200 skylights for natural daylighting.

* Renewable Energy: installed more than 200 solar-powered street lights and caution lights—an effort that led to the installation of solar-powered lighting at bus stops, carport electric vehicle charging stations, wastewater overflow detection stations, and notification and communication systems. Camp Pendleton also has several rooftop photovoltaic systems in the final design stages. Due to the success of and overwhelming demand for solar-powered streetlights, the Base is now installing 100 new streetlights at remote, off-grid locations. Given the high visibility of the solar-powered projects to the thousands of civilians and Marines that work and live at Camp Pendleton, these projects provide a great educational opportunity on the many applications of solar power.

* Advanced drive-by metering systems: This project will install and/or upgrade all master electric, gas, and water meters under the same platform and will allow information to readily be provided to Base personnel and end users for action. The next phase will install remaining electric and gas sub-meters in an effort to cover approximately 85 percent of the buildings on the Base with advanced meters with capabilities for drive-by data collection. ..."

I wonder if you could run water lines through an asphalt parking lot and use it to heat water for a building.

Now, the new plastics can survive extremes of heat and cold that are well beyond what would be required. That is actually a pretty good ides. I'd ante up with a similar suggestion that when the foundation or slab of a home is put it, the same type plastic piping be installed to take advantage of geothermal of home heat/cooling. In the summer it can act as both dehumidifier (in humid areas) and air cooler. In the winter, it brings increases the efficiency of heat exchangers and expands the geographic range where they are viable. Having a constant, virtually free way to do most of the heating and cooling, along with a large solar input into heating water, would be a good thing, I think.

I've thought about building one myself to see if I can at least cool our house a little. It's on my list of things to do along with solar panels, solar hot water system, electric car, and gray water recovery system. ;) Actually my first priority is better windows and insulation for our house along with an attic fan. Then I'll move on to the more complex stuff I day dream about doing.