Highway as the main artery of traffic, traffic flow is huge, vehicle speed. In such a traffic environment, good lighting and clear warning signs for the protection of driving safety, improve traffic efficiency plays a vital role. Once the lighting is insufficient or unclear warning, drivers will be difficult to accurately judge the road conditions, very easy to cause traffic accidents, resulting in casualties and property damage. Traditional lighting and warning methods, in the face of the complex needs of the highway, gradually exposed some limitations. As an innovative road safety facility, solar road studs are gradually emerging astus a new solution for highway safety.
High brightness and long visible distance
Solar road studs equipped with high brightness LED light source, which makes it in the night or bad weather conditions, showing far more than the traditional road studs visual effect. On a clear night, the light travels a clear distance of 200 metres, giving drivers plenty of advance warning. Even in inclement weather, such as heavy rain or fog, the visibility distance of 100 metres can still be maintained. For example, in foggy weather, the reflective effect of traditional road studs is greatly reduced, while the solar road studs can still penetrate the fog by virtue of the active light-emitting properties, guiding the driver in the direction of the road, which greatly improves driving safety.
Dynamic warning effect
Solar road studs have a unique dynamic warning function, which can attract drivers’ attention through flashing and colour changing modes. At the bend of the highway, the road stud flashes regularly, as if reminding the driver of ‘bend ahead, please pay attention to slow down’; at the entrance and exit of the ramp, the change of the road stud’s colour can clearly indicate the direction of the vehicle’s driving. Especially in accident-prone road sections, the dynamic warning effect can promptly alert drivers, prompting them to prepare for the response in advance, effectively reducing the probability of accidents.
Freedom from grid dependence
Solar road studs cleverly use solar energy for power supply, a feature that enables them to operate stably in remote sections of highways and areas without power grid coverage. In some mountainous highways, it is difficult and costly to lay the power grid, so it is difficult for traditional power supply road studs to play a role. The solar road stud is not subject to this limitation, as long as there is sunlight, it can continue to work. Even if the power grid failure, will not affect its normal lighting and warning function, to ensure that the highway all-weather road safety.
Adapt to the complex environment
The components of solar road studs are carefully designed and specially treated to have excellent environmental adaptability. It has good waterproof and dustproof performance, and can effectively resist the erosion of rain and dust. In terms of structure, it can withstand frequent crushing by vehicles weighing up to [X] tonnes and is robust. In terms of temperature adaptation, whether it is a hot summer up to 80 ℃ high temperature, or cold winter as low as – 40 ℃ low temperature, the solar road stud can work normally, and always maintain a stable performance.
Zero carbon emission
Solar energy belongs to clean energy, in the use of solar road studs, will not produce carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and other greenhouse gases. In the global actively advocate energy saving and emission reduction, to cope with climate change in the context of the highway as the focus of the traffic carbon emissions, the use of solar road studs in line with the green construction concept. Each installation of solar road studs contributes to the reduction of carbon emissions and helps to promote the sustainable development of the transport sector.
Low Energy Consumption
Solar road studs consume very little energy, requiring only a small amount of solar energy to meet their lighting and warning needs. Compared to traditional powered road studs, solar road studs do not need to consume large amounts of electricity. This reduces energy costs significantly in the long term. A 10-kilometre-long highway, for example, if all the use of solar road nails, the annual savings in electricity costs is considerable, in achieving good lighting warning effect at the same time, improve economic efficiency.
Guided solar road studs
Guided solar road studs mainly through the continuous and stable light, for drivers to clearly outline the highway lane lines and edge lines. At night, when the vehicle driving on the highway, the driver’s line of sight is limited, guided solar road studs emit bright light, like a luminous ribbon, guiding the vehicle to keep in the correct driving track. Especially in some of the road without street lighting, its guiding role is more obvious, to help drivers accurately judge the position of the vehicle on the road, to avoid deviation from the lane.
Warning Solar Road Studs
Warning solar road studs play an important role in the dangerous sections of the motorway. In curves, it reminds drivers through flashing lights that the road direction ahead has changed and they need to slow down in advance; in steep slopes, warning solar road studs convey road condition information to drivers with unique flashing frequency and colours, so that they are ready to cope with changes in the gradient; in the entrance and exit of tunnels, the warning effect of the studs helps drivers adapt to the changes in the light and pay attention to the safety of driving.
Embedded Solar Road Studs
Embedded solar road stud adopts the installation method of embedding into the road surface, and is flush with the road surface after installation. The biggest advantage of this design is that it does not affect the smoothness of the vehicle travelling, and the vehicle will not produce a bumpy feeling when passing by. At the same time, due to flush with the road surface, embedded solar road studs can effectively avoid being damaged by vehicle impact, suitable for high traffic flow, fast speed of the main carriageway of the motorway. In the main carriageway, vehicles travel frequently, embedded solar road studs can play its lighting and warning function stably for a long time.
Raised Solar Road Studs
Raised solar road studs protrude from the road surface at a certain height, with a larger light-emitting area and better visibility. In the highway ramp, vehicle driving direction and speed changes frequently, raised solar road studs eye-catching warning effect allows drivers to note the road changes in a timely manner; in the toll plaza, personnel and vehicle activities are more complex, raised solar road studs from multiple angles to attract the attention of drivers, to ensure that the traffic is in order.
Preparation before installation
Before the installation of solar road studs, you need to fully prepare the relevant tools and materials. Tools, to prepare a drill, screwdriver and other common tools. The materials include solar road studs, sealant, fixing bolts and so on. Meanwhile, it is crucial to clean and inspect the installation pavement. It is important to ensure that the road surface is clean and tidy, free of debris and dust, so as not to affect the firmness of the installation of the road studs. Check whether the road surface is level, if there are potholes or bumps, you need to repair them in advance.
Detailed Installation Steps
Firstly, use electric drill to make holes on the road surface according to the specified spacing and depth. The depth of the holes should be about 80cm to ensure that the studs base can be firmly embedded. Next, place the stud base into the drilled holes and fasten it with fixing bolts. Then, connect the wiring. Connect the wiring of the solar panel, the battery and the LED light in the correct way to ensure that the circuit is smooth. Install the solar panels and LED lights, adjust the angle so that the solar panels can fully receive sunlight, and the direction of illumination of the LED lights meets the requirements of lighting warnings. Finally, use sealant to seal the gap between the studs and the road surface to prevent rain and dust from entering and affecting the performance of the spike.
Daily Maintenance
Daily maintenance mainly includes checking the cleanliness of solar panels. The surface of the solar panel will affect its efficiency in absorbing solar energy if it accumulates dust or debris, so it needs to be cleaned regularly with a soft cloth. At the same time, it is important to check the battery power level, which can be done using professional battery testing equipment. If you find that the battery power is too low, you need to investigate the cause in time. Also check the brightness of the LED light, if the brightness is weakened, it may be the LED light aging or circuit failure, need to be further checked and repaired. In addition, check the fixing of the studs to see if there is any loosening phenomenon, if so, tighten it in time.
Points for regular maintenance
During regular maintenance, a comprehensive inspection of the studs is required. In terms of electrical performance, we should check whether the output voltage and current of the solar panel are normal, whether the charging and discharging performance of the battery is good, and whether the light-emitting parameters of the LED light meet the standard. Structural integrity, check whether the shell of the stud is broken, deformation, whether the internal parts are loose, fall off. According to the characteristics of different types of solar road studs, generally quarterly comprehensive inspection, annual in-depth maintenance. In the depth of maintenance, the spike can be disassembled and cleaned, replace the aging parts, to ensure that the road stud is always in good working condition.
Technological innovation to promote
With the continuous progress of science and technology, solar road spike technology is also continuing to innovate. Solar energy conversion efficiency is gradually improved, the future is expected to convert more solar energy into electricity, providing more adequate energy for the studs. Improvements in energy storage technology will enable the battery to store more power, and extend the service life of the battery. Intelligent control functions will also be enhanced, solar road studs may have the ability to automatically adjust the brightness and warning mode according to the traffic flow, weather conditions, to further enhance its effectiveness and energy saving level, thus promoting the application of solar road studs continue to expand.
Policy support orientation
The government attaches increasing importance to green transport and intelligent transport, and has introduced a series of relevant policies. For example, the use of solar energy and other clean energy transport facilities to give subsidies to the project, the development of relevant technical standards to encourage the standardised application of solar road nails. These policies will greatly promote the widespread use of solar road nails in the construction and transformation of highways, providing strong policy support for the development of solar road nails market.
Demand for Newly Built Highways
Combined with the global highway construction planning, in the next 10 years, the mileage of new highways will continue to increase. China, for example, is expected to add about 2000 kilometres of new motorways each year. With the continuous promotion of new highway projects, the market demand for solar road studs will also grow. Different regions due to the geographical environment, traffic flow and other factors, the demand for solar road spike characteristics are different. In the mountainous areas, with the ability to resist harsh environments, the greater the demand for solar road studs; in economically developed regions, the high degree of intelligence of the solar road nails demand is more prominent.
Existing highway reconstruction demand
At present, there are a large number of existing highways around the world. In order to improve the safety performance of these highways, energy saving and emission reduction goals, the traditional spike for solar energy transformation of the demand is increasingly prominent. It is estimated that the number of retrofit projects on existing motorways will continue to rise over the next 10 years, resulting in a huge potential market. With the implementation of retrofit projects, the market share of solar road spike will also grow gradually, becoming an important part of the highway safety facilities market.
Solar road studs in the highway scenario show a variety of significant advantages such as efficient lighting warning, independent power supply stability and energy saving and environmental protection. Different functions and structural types of solar road studs are suitable for various sections and scenes of highways, and have achieved good results in practical applications, effectively reducing the incidence of accidents and reducing maintenance costs.
