Andrew Northmore, a student at the University of Waterloo supervised by Dr. Susan Tighe, was featured in the Waterloo Record for his work on a solar road project where he plans to see how a solar road might work in groundbreaking research at the University of Waterloo.
This project involves designing a road panel, to be installed in a concrete road, that can withstand the rigors of vehicle traffic and has photovoltaic cells built into it to generate electricity. The electricity generated from these panels can be fed into the electrical grid and play a part in developing a sustainable energy and infrastructure future for Canada and the world. The major design challenges of the project include designing the structure of the panel and ensuring a high friction surface while not impeding photo transmission to the solar cells.