In June, their panels were installed in the American state of Missouri and their stretch of the iconic Route 66 highway. Through a partnership between Solar Roadways and Missouri’s Department of Transportation, a small initial test of the solar panels is now taking place at the famous highway’s welcome center – first, on a pavement leading to the rest stop’s entrance, with plans to then expand onto the parking lot. Soon the Jeff Jones Town Square in Sandpoint, Idaho – the company’s hometown – will be replaced by their solar panels in an opportunity to showcase the company’s technology and as a test of its cost and durability before moving onto large-scale testing on roadways.

In November 2014, SolaRoad’s solar-powered bike path connecting two Amsterdam suburbs opened and has since attracted over 150,000 users. Though the 70-meter-long path experienced a few technical glitches at the beginning – namely a broken panel after frost – it has since outperformed expectations by generating more than 3,000 kilowatt-hours of energy, enough to power a home for an entire year. 

While the technology is promising, critics point out that projects such as these may not be economically feasible since there’s a hefty price tag for solar panels in comparison to traditional asphalt and concrete. But given the fact that world energy demand is expected to double by 2050, an exploration of more clean energy sources is something we can all feel sunny about.