The Ray and its partners have dedicated two newly installed state-of-the art technologies that are both "firsts" in the U.S. Wattway drive-over solar panels that turn ordinary highways into power producers, and the WheelRight drive-over tire safety system have both been installed at the Georgia Visitor Information Center (VIC) on I-85 in West Georgia, along a corridor that is now known as "The Ray."
The Ray is an 18-mile stretch of I-85 in West Georgia that is a model for the highway of the future, and a namesake project that embodies the vision of the late Ray C. Anderson (1934-2011), a globally recognized leader in green business and founder and chairman of the world's largest carpet tile manufacturer, Interface, Inc.
Wattway Solar Road
Wattway solar panels are paved onto streets, highways and parking lots to combine the best practices of road construction and photovoltaic (PV) techniques to provide clean, renewable energy while allowing for all types of traffic. The thin, heavy-duty, skid resistant PV pavers can be applied directly over existing paving, eliminating the need to remodel or build new road infrastructures.
The Ray, Georgia DOT and international technology partner COLAS unveiled the first trafficable solar road in the U.S. today, with their installation of a 50 square meter solar roadway section in Georgia; the first of its kind outside of France. The clean energy generated by Wattway at this site will help to power the Georgia VIC as a demonstration project for technology that has potential to help reshape the future of transportation at a global level.
Read the full Wattway press release. - Click here.
Read a fact sheet about Wattway - Click here
WheelRight Tire Pressure and Tread Depth Monitoring
More than 35,000 drivers die each year in accidents on U.S. roads and highways and U.S. DOT data points to underinflated tires as a major cause of crashes that can result in fatalities and injuries.
The installation of the WheelRight, state-of-the-art, drive over tire safety system, that measures tire pressure and (for the first time anywhere in the world) tread depth, will help keep highways safer.
The installation of free tire pressure and tread depth monitoring for motorists at the VIC is jointly sponsored by The Ray and Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia (KMMG).
The Ray is a place where we can test big ideas, the radical innovations, and the simple, smart choices that can create safer and cleaner transportation," said Harriet Langford, president of The Ray.
Read the full WheelRight press release. - Click here.
Read a fact sheet about WheelRight - Click here
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