Solar Roadways Project Attracts 35.000+ Funders So Far

First there were electric cars, now there are Solar Roadways. This revolutionary initiative to change the way we utilize the nation’s millions of miles of roadways— by turning them into power sources— just set the record for the highest number of individual funders to an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign.

Artist’s rendition of an interstate at dusk
Graphic artist: Sam Cornett

More than 35,000 people from 42 countries have helped an innovative couple from Idaho, Scott and Julie Brusaw, surpass their Indiegogo crowdfunding goal of $1,000,000— and there are still three more days to go. Solar Roadways could pay for itself through clean power generation.

The Solar Roadways campaign also states that it will:

improve road safety by providing LED lighting that replaces paint and can be changed at the touch of a button
prevent accidents by providing advance illuminated warning of animals or debris on the road
provide an environmentally friendly way to melt snow without salt and sand

Notably, the previous record holder for the most Indiegogo contributors was the campaign by Matthew Inman (The Oatmeal) to create a museum for the original pioneer in electricity, Nikola Tesla (33,000 funders).

Artist’s rendition of Sandpoint, Idaho – Home of Solar Roadways
Graphic artist: Sam Cornett

Indiegogo launched in 2008 as the world’s first crowdfunding platform, and is dedicated to allowing anyone, anywhere to fund what matters to them. As the world’s funding engine, Indiegogo democratizes access to capital and helps innovators around the world improve society by turning their ideas into reality.

Did you know:

Solar Roadways has received two phases of funding from the U.S. Federal Highway Administration for research and development of a paving system that will pay for itself over its lifespan. We are about to wrap up our Phase II contract (to build a prototype parking lot) and now need to raise funding for production.

Our glass surface has been tested for traction, load testing, and impact resistance testing in civil engineering laboratories around the country, and exceeded all requirements.

Solar Roadways is a modular system that will modernize our aging infrastructure with an intelligent system that can become the new Smart Grid. We won the Community Award of $50,000 by getting the most votes in GE’s Ecomagination Challenge for “Powering the Grid” in 2010. We had the most votes again in their 2011 Ecomagination Challenge for “Powering the Home”.

On August 21, 2013, Solar Roadways was selected by their peers as a Finalist in the World Technology Award For Energy,
Artist’s rendition of bike path with Solar Road Panels
Graphic artist: Katherine Simons

presented in association with TIME, Fortune, CNN, and Science.

Solar Roadways was chosen by Google to be one of their Moonshots in May of 2013.

Solar Roadways was chosen as a finalist in the IEEE Ace Awards in 2009 and 2010.

Solar Roadways has given presentations around the country including: TEDx Sacramento, Google’s Solve for X at Google’s NYC Headquarters, NASA, Keynote Speaker for the International Parking Institute’s Conference and much more…

Solar Roadways is tackling more than solar energy: The FHWA tasked us with addressing the problem of stormwater. Currently, over 50% of the pollution in U.S. waterways comes from stormwater. We have created a section in our Cable Corridors for storing, treating, and moving stormwater.

The implementation of our concept on a grand scale could create thousands of jobs in the U.S. and around the world. It could allow us all the ability to manufacture our way out of our current economic crisis.