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Solar Roadways closer to reality

CAMERON RASMUSSON/Hagadone News Network | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years, 7 months AGO
by CAMERON RASMUSSON/Hagadone News Network
| May 28, 2014 9:00 PM

SANDPOINT - It's hard to find someone who isn't talking about Solar Roadways.

Everyone from George Takei of "Star Trek" fame to Jesse "The Body" Ventura to everyday folks who have never before heard the name Sandpoint are chattering about the technology that aims to change the transportation and energy industries forever.

Given that kind of exposure, it's no wonder Solar Roadways has blown past its $1 million funding goal, charting just over $1,439,133 as of Tuesday night. There's no telling just how far Solar Roadways will go in its fundraising effort, which will enable the company to hire initial staff members and begin production.

"We feel so blessed that people all over the world are giving their money to make this a reality," Scott Brusaw said.

The tremendous response is based on one exciting idea: What if the world's roads, which spend all day soaking in solar energy that goes nowhere, could instead use it to power the globe? That's exactly what Solar Roadways hopes to accomplish with its hexagon-shaped road panel, which has the ability to capture solar energy, melt away snow and ice with imbedded heating elements and display warning messages or traffic lines with LED lights - all while providing the traction and durability necessary to keep cars cruising safely to their destinations.

It has been an exciting year for the Brusaws, who developed Solar Roadways during the past few years through funding from the U.S. Federal Highway Administration. With their FHWA contract to construct a prototype parking lot near completion, the local inventors required funding to kick off production. And while Scott Brusaw's career as an electrical engineer and advice from academic experts brought the project to a completed prototype, Solar Roadways still needed a team of qualified staff to ready a commercial product.

"I wouldn't want to sell one of these to anyone until it's been perfected," Brusaw said.

While Brusaw said he's received several investment offers, he's also cautious about any agreements that could affect the company's vision - or its local headquarters. That's why the company turned to the people through Indiegogo crowd-funding to raise its capital.

Launched on Earth Day, the fundraising campaign got off to a discouraging start, Brusaw said. Donations, which are structured in tiers with accompanying perks and rewards, slowly trickled into the profile page at www.indiegogo.com/projects/solar-roadways.

It wasn't long before that trickle turned into a torrent. Two factors helped spread the Solar Roadways vision like wildfire: a viral Youtube video and celebrity mentions in social media.

The Brusaws have enjoyed solid publicity from Internet videos in the past - most notably from a documentary short by Your Environmental Road Trip that will be expanded into a feature-length film. When filmmaker Michael Naphan learned of the project, he also offered to help them spread the word.

"He told us he could make a video for us that would really take off," Brusaw said. "He said, 'I can make this go viral.'"

The result was "Solar FREAKIN' Roadways," a Youtube video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlTA3rnpgzU that presents the concept with funny, enthusiastic energy. Published on May 18, the video now has more than 6 million views.

In turn, the video garnered more media coverage and celebrity mentions. Jesse "The Body" Ventura and Julian Lennon were some of the earliest to take notice. The floodgates really opened when Takei and "Mythbusters" shared the story last week. At that point, people around the globe began pumping the Indiegogo page with hundreds of thousands of dollars a day. The company Facebook page jumped from a few thousand "likes" to almost 40,000.

With the $1 million funding request met and exceeded, the Brusaws are now accepting applications for mechanical, civil, structural, manufacturing, materials and environmental engineers. As they move into production, Brusaw said more job openings will follow.

No matter how big the company gets, the Brusaws' intention is that Solar Roadways stay a Sandpoint company. Throughout the period of FHWA funding, the money went straight into the local economy. And that will only grow when the company begins production - perhaps as early as the end of the year. Finally, the company is teaming up with the city of Sandpoint in pursuing additional grant funding. If successful, the idea is to convert a local downtown street into a solar roadway.

"Sandpoint could very well become the first Solar Roadway city," Brusaw said.

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