Solar Highways Are Sexy, But Are They Practical?

An old friend, a recently retired aerospace engineer, asked me to comment on the concept of a solar highway, in particular, the famed Route 66 that traverses 2500 miles of the U.S. I responded:

It’s cool to think about; it’s futuristic, but I’m not bullish.  I’m not saying something like this will never be built,  but I’m betting against any implementation large enough to make a difference.

People have been talking about this for a great while, and, while it’s sexy, I really don’t think it can compete. Making PV that is durable isn’t as easy as people claim,  it’s hard to keep clean, and cars cast shadows that harm overall efficiency far more than one may think, due to the way PV panels are constructed.  There is so much otherwise unusable space on rooftops and low-value land that I doubt this will amount to anything of significance.