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Use of Asphalt Paved Surfaces For Solar Heat

Posted by timothy on from the but-it's-a-gross-heat dept.

vg30e writes "It seems that a company in the Netherlands has found a way to use asphalt paved surfaces as solar heat collectors. Flexible tubes under the surface of the road collect heat from asphalt pavement using water as the working liquid. The heated water is stored underground for later use in defrosting the road, or heating buildings. With all the miles of highway in the continental US, this might be a viable way of collecting massive amounts of thermal energy."

2 of 110 comments (clear)

  1. Old idea from Universty of Chicago by 2.7182 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Physics professor Roland Winston, proposed this 25 years ago.

  2. Nothing new... by tgd · · Score: 3, Informative

    Its not uncommon for some very high end houses to do this during the summer and reverse the process (to keep the driveway ice/snow free) during the winter.