Solar Roadways to unveil newest model
(Photo courtesy SOLAR ROADWAYS) Scott and Julie Brusaw take a selfie with a film crew in June 2017 during a break in filming for a TV show about their company, Solar Roadways. Solar Roadways and city officials announced Wednesday that new models of the company’s solar panels are being installed at Jeff Jones Town Square, necessitating the removal of the old panels.
SANDPOINT — No, Solar Roadways isn’t pulling out of town.
What they are doing is prepping the site to install the newest model of its solar panels at Jeff Jones Town Square, according to city of Sandpoint and Solar Roadways officials. The city has been host to the first ever public demonstration of Solar Roadways at the town square since Oct. 1, 2016, Sandpoint City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton said in a press release.
Located in downtown Sandpoint, the demonstration site encompasses 150 square feet of the town square. The initial installation featured the Solar Roadways SR3.1 panel in a proof-of-concept testing in a pedestrian and bicycle application. The project was intended to be a dynamic installation that would be updated with the latest product developments and panels.
To that end, Solar Roadways is updating the demonstration site with its new SR4 model, which are designed to produce 50 watts, up from 36 watts for the previous model. Stapleton said.
However, to make way for the updated models, the concrete that served as the base for the original system panels was removed on Tuesday. That’s because the new panels will rest upon a newly designed recycled, rubber base. It is anticipated that construction and installation of the new panels will be completed over a period of two weeks.
The initial $60,000 installation was funded primarily through a GEM grant awarded by the Idaho Department of Commerce as well as a grant awarded by the Sandpoint Urban Renewal Agency. The newest panels and associated site changes are provided and paid for by Solar Roadways, said Stapleton.
Since its initial Sandpoint installation in 2016, Solar Roadways has had a temporary public demonstration exhibit in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and at the Smithsonian.
The company debuted its new SR4 model at the Treefort Music Festival’s tech conference in Boise this past March. In addition, Solar Roadways recently completed its third U.S. Department of Transportation contract, which funded a series of strength testing of the panels at Marquette University, in Wisconsin, and secured its first manufacturing partner in Ohio.