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Smart highway and smart road are terms for a number of different proposals to incorporate technologies into roads for generating solar energy, for improving the operation of autonomous cars, for lighting, and for monitoring the condition of the road. The world's first photovoltaic road was under construction in Tourouvre, Orne, France in November-December 2016.

Intelligent transportation systems
Intelligent transportation systems usually refers to the use of information and communication technologies (rather than innovations in the construction of the roadway) in the field of road transport, including infrastructure, vehicles and users, and in traffic management and mobility management, as well as for interfaces with other modes of transport.

Photovoltaic pavement
Photovoltaic pavement is a form of pavement that generates electricity by collecting solar power with photovoltaics. Parking lots, foot paths, driveways, streets and highways are all candidate locations where this material could be used.

In 2013 Students at the Solar Institute at George Washington University installed a solar panel walking path designed by Onyx Solar, something they call solar pavement.

SolaRoad is a system being developed by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), the Ooms Groep, Imtech and the Netherlands province of North Holland. They plan to install their panels on 100 m of cycle path in Krommenie, Netherlands in November 2014. A variant concept of a "solar road" installed in Avenhorn, by Ooms Avenhorn Holding AV, uses asphalt and tarmac to absorb the sun’s rays and heat water for use in domestic heating.

The Solar Roadways company of Idaho, USA, is developing a prototype system to replace current roads, parking lots, and driveways with photovoltaic solar road panels that generate electricity.

South Korea has built a freeway with the median covered by solar panels above a bikepath.

The first photovoltaic road in the world was constructed in Tourouvre, Orne, France in 2016. Called "Wattway", it was built by Société Nouvelle Aeracem (SNA), and dedicated by the French Minister of Ecology, Ségolène Royal on October 25, 2016. The 1-km section of road opened to traffic on 22 December 2016. It is believed the road will provide enough power for the town's streetlights.

Solar Road Panels
The main purpose of solar roadways is to replace asphalt roads with Solar Panels which generate energy through the sun that can be used by local houses or businesses that are connected to the system from either the house’s driveway or the businesses parking lot. The panels will also increase the number of charging stations for electric cars if that station is connected to the solar roadway. Each panel is roughly 12’ by 12’ of interlocking panels that have their own LED lights that will be used as the road lines, and can also be used to spell out words like “Reduce Speed” or “Traffic Ahead” to help the flow of traffic.

There are 3 layers that make up the solar panels:

1. The Road Surface Layer - The Road Layer is the High Strength layer that has the photovoltaic cells which attracts the sun’s rays, it has traction so vehicles don’t slide of the road, and it’s waterproof to protect the layers below.

2. The Electronic Layer - The Electronic Layers contain a mini microprocessor board that helps control the heating element of the panels, this technology can help melt the snow that lands on the panels so that hazardous road conditions will no longer be an issue in the more northern regions. This layer can sense how much weight is on the panels and can control the heating element to melt the snow.

3. The Base Plate Layer - The Base Plate Layer is the layer that collects the energy from the sun and distributes the power to the homes or businesses that are connected to the solar roadways. This will also be used to transfer the energy to cars as they drive over the strip to recharge the battery.

Smart Pavement
The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) began testing out “smart pavement” at a rest stop outside of Conway, Missouri along historic Route 66 late in 2016. The pilot program currently covers about 200 square feet of sidewalk at the visitor center and cost $100,000 (Landers), largely subsidized by the Federal Highway Administration. It’s all part of Missouri’s Road to Tomorrow initiative to find new innovations in their transportation infrastructure. Missouri wants to take advantage of these roadways to implement other, related technologies. The panels will heat the road and keep snow and ice from accumulating. They will also feature LED diodes that will increase the visibility of road lines. The LEDs would also double in helping prevent paint from inhibiting solar power generation. The panels have not had enough time to determine durability, energy efficiency, or cost effectiveness in a real world sense yet, so MoDOT has not reach any conclusions about feasibility and future application yet.

Wireless vehicle charging
The Online Electric Vehicle being developed by KAIST (the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) has electrical circuits built into the road which will power suitably adapted vehicles via contactless electromagnetic induction. A pilot system powering electric buses is under development. Germany's IAV is another company that is developing induction chargers.

Electromechanical Batteries
Roadway-powered electric vehicle system is the patent held by Howard R. Ross. It has several components. The first of which is an all electric vehicle that would be fit with electromechanical batteries that accept a charge from the road. The road is the second component and would have strategically placed charging coils as to only charge the car when needed. These cars and roads would not require gas or solar power.

Nowhere in the world is an invention like this currently implemented, and this is due to the cost of the infrastructure overhaul that would be needed to bring this patent into reality.

Road markings
The Smart Highway concept developed by Studio Roosegaarde and the infrastructure management group, Heijmans, of the Netherlands incorporated photo-luminescent paint for road markings, which absorb light during the day then glow for up to 10 hours. The technology was demonstrated on a stretch of highway in Brabant, Netherlands.

Frost protection and melting snow, ice
Snowmelt systems using electricity or hot water to heat roads and pavements have been installed in various locations.

Solar Roadways has proposed including a snowmelt system with their photovoltaic road panels since the panels already have electrical power connections for harvesting photovoltaic power. Skeptics point to the cost.

ICAX Limited of London's "Interseasonal Heat Capture" technology captures solar energy in thermal banks and releases it back under a roadway, heating it and keeping asphalt free of ice.

Benefits
In the U.S., a study found that between 1996-2011, over 12,000 deaths were caused by winter-related precipitation. Annually over 500,000 accidents occur because of winter-related weather. In 2014, federal, state, and local governments spent $73 billion on operation and maintenance of highways, including for resurfacing needed because of current snow removal techniques. Between October 2014-April 2015, 23 state DOTs reported spending $1.131 billion on snow and ice removal, including 8 million working hours, not including local expenditures. For instance, between 2003-2015, the city of New York estimated the cost of snow and ice removal at $1.8 million per inch. Annually, auto drivers lose $23.4 billion in corrosion-related repair costs and depreciation linked to chemicals used to treat roadways during winter. In 2014, economists estimated that snow and ice that winter had cost the country $47 billion in GDP and 76,000 jobs.

With snow and ice melt systems deployed to obstruct winter weather, deaths, accidents, governmental and insurance costs, economic losses, and personal auto expenditures are reduced.

Economic Impact
Solar Roadways has changed our lives in a number of ways. To begin, it is imperative to note that through Solar Roadways, a prototype of a solar roadway has been built through placing of solar panels that are highly efficient below “an ultra-durable covering that is strong enough for vehicles to drive upon”. The energy that are gathered from such panels light LED have been useful in melting ice and snow during winter months as well as supplying power to business and homes that are connected to the roadway. As such, it can be argued that the Solar Roadways has changed our lives by providing affordable source of energy to us as well improving the weather situation during the winter seasons.

In addition to that, the Solar Roadways has, and will continue, to have positive economic impacts on the economy of the United States of America. One of the economic positive impacts that Solar Roadways has had in the economy of the United States is the creation of job opportunities. For instance, studies have shown that Solar Roadways has approximated that through installation and building of solar panels in all the United States’ highways, they will be capable of creating close to 2.5 million full – time jobs for about ten years. In addition to that, the solar highway will as well provide clean energy, which it will pay for itself. This indicates that the production cost in the sectors that rely energy as their main factor of production, will be significantly decreased and hence an increase in the economic growth due to an increase in production level.