Imagine pulling into a bustling highway rest stop after hours of driving. This isn't a distant dream but a thriving business model transforming service areas into clean. Roadside solar farms are an innovative approach to renewable energy deployment that utilizes the network of highway medians, shoulders, embankments, and adjacent right-of-way lands to generate clean electricity. Along the Jinan–Weifang highway in China's Shandong province, a 68 MW solar system now produces 68 GWh per year, which is more than four. “Solar Highways preserve valuable farmland, protect environment, reduce road maintenance costs and increase traffic safety, while producing low price energy, close to the consumers. (Image courtesy of Alex Kalinin, Unsplash) By Kayt Sukel While taking the bus home from work one day, Hou Jiang, Ph. Solar power installations can be sited on or above highway alignments and interchanges, rooftops, or elevated structures above parking lots or other DOT-owned.
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