Solar Skyways

Abstract

In the autumn of 2007 a group of 200 people gathered in Uppsala, Sweden to view a prototype and explore collaboration in developing a new transportation alternative, the podcar, a small cabin on a fixed guideway operating directly above urban streets. Earlier described as PRT (Personal Rapid Transit) and more recently as ATN (Automated Transportation Network), this driverless on-demand mode of transportation offers mobility that is much faster and more convenient than a bus, plus much more efficient and safer than an automobile. It also lends itself uniquely to being powered by solar energy (photovoltaics) directly within the system's pathway.At that conference and subsequently, proponents have demonstrated that it is possible to power this unique urban transportation system 100% with solar energy, that is, selling to and buying from the existing electricity grid to achieve “net zero” energy demand. Since 2011 the solar design has been refined through the Solar Skyways Challenge, an ongoing multidisciplinary initiative which to date has been embraced by students at three universities – in the Netherlands, Sweden and Silicon Valley USA.The Challenge continues into its third year with students at San Jose State University and elsewhere forming multidisciplinary teams to design and build computer controlled scale models and full-scale system components, and ultimately a full scale test track to demonstrate the technical, environmental and economic viability of Solar Skyways.