Turn Off The Street Lights; Solar Powered Cement To Light Up Your Roads

With electricity shortage and outages, scientists have created something unique and can help saving some of the electric energy for the future generation.

Scientists from Michoacan's University of San Nicolas Hidalgo in Mexico have come up with a brilliant invention. They've invented light-emitting cement which absorbs solar energy through the day and releases during the darkness, which in turn lights up the roads, highways, and any lanes which are cemented with these light emitting technology.

The light emits blue or green and can be controlled of how much intensity is required so that motorists will not be blinded. Most of the fluorescent materials used today have a life of maximum three years, however, this cement will last for hundreds of years.

Jose Carlos Rubio, from the university which worked on this project, says, "Nine years ago, when I started the project, I realised there was nothing similar worldwide, and so I started to work on it. The main issue was that cement is an opaque body that doesn't allow light to pass to its interior."

To break this jinx, he explains that cement is like a dust and becomes a gel when water is added to it. He adds, "In that moment it starts to become a gel, similar to the one used for hair styling, but much stronger and much more resistant. At the same time, some crystal flakes are formed; these are unwanted sub-products in hardened cement."

He and his team who worked with him in this project, they modified the microstructure of the cement and got rid of the unwanted crystals so that the cement remains in a gel form. Hence, the cement remains as gel and it can absorb solar power during the day and can emit for 12 hours during night or darkness.

Also, this product is ecologically good as it composed of sand, dust or clay, and the only residue is steam. The team has patented the invention and are being recognised globally for their work.