Solar and Permeable Road: A Prototypical Study

A solar road is a pavement infrastructure able to generate electricity exploiting the solar radiation. Notwithstanding the progress of the research, several issues still hinder these typologies from getting an outstanding role, among which their uncertain durability, surface performance, and permeability. In the light of this, a novel permeable and solar road is here proposed. An innovative top layer was designed, taking into account hydraulic and transport-related issues. The basic idea was to improve the wet friction by setting up and advancing a water drainage system. The pavement was validated in terms of hydraulic and friction properties, in order to assess its ability to perform satisfactorily in dry and wet conditions. A system to simulate rainfall was designed and constructed. The results demonstrate the feasibility of coupling energy harvesting and premium surface properties (such as permeability). The contributions of this study aim to improve from a draining point of view the typical solar pavement package. Results can benefit both practitioners and researchers.