Citation: Rahman, M.; Mabrouk, G.; Dessouky, S. Development of a Photovoltaic-Based Module for Harvesting Solar Energy from Pavement: A Lab and Field Assessment. Energies 2023, 16, 3338. https://doi.org/10.3390/ en16083338 Academic Editor: Anastassios M. Stamatelos Received: 15 March 2023 Revised: 2 April 2023 Accepted: 4 April 2023 Published: 9 April 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). energies Article Development of a Photovoltaic-Based Module for Harvesting Solar Energy from Pavement: A Lab and Field Assessment Musfira Rahman 1,2, * , Gamal Mabrouk 1,3 and Samer Dessouky 1, * 1 School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Management, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA; gamal.mabrouk@txdot.gov 2 Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Texas A & M University, College Station, TX 77840, USA 3 Texas Department of Transportation, Houston District, Houston, TX 77007, USA * Correspondence: musfira@tamu.edu (M.R.); samer.dessouky@utsa.edu (S.D.) Abstract: The concurrent worldwide energy crisis has become a strong incentive for researchers, governments, and industry professionals to focus on sustainable energy solutions. Consequently, pavement photovoltaic energy harvesting technologies, as one of the most common sustainable en- ergy solutions, have recently seen a significant improvement, especially in the new innovative designs of pavement solar panels. In this study, an innovative design for a prototype energy harvesting system was proposed based on thin-film photovoltaic solar panels. In addition, the feasibility of utilizing the generated power of the proposed system to illuminate a pedestrian crosswalk to enhance the safety of an at-grade intersection was also analyzed. The designed prototype consists of a thin-film solar panel, a transparent cover to protect the solar panel, and a wooden frame to support the panel and dis- tribute the load. Different materials for the transparent covering plates were investigated, including polycarbonate with varying thicknesses, textured GlassGrit, and textured float glass with corundum skid-resistant coating on the surface. Finite element analysis was also conducted to analyze the behavior of solar panel-incorporated layered asphalt pavement subjected to dynamic wheel loading. The results showed that the suggested model could sustain the structural loads of a moving wheel without failure. Experimental results of the study showed that considering the seven hours of oper- ation on a typical sunny day, the proposed system could generate approximately 699 Watt-hour of power during 7 h of operation (9 a.m.–4 p.m.) from the 304.8 mm (12 inches) × 304.8 mm (12 inches) pavement solar panel. Keywords: photovoltaic energy; solar pavement; renewable energy; energy harvesting; roads and highways 1. Introduction Exploring any alternative sources of renewable energy creates a solution for the con- current energy crisis and environmental degradation due to the burning of fossil fuels. Among various renewable sources, solar energy is considered the most abundant and widely distributed energy source. Roadway surfaces absorb, on average, 40 KJ/m 2 of radi- ation energy per day during the summertime [1,2]. Additionally, approximately 15–21% of vehicle engines’ power is transmitted to the vehicles’ wheels and to the pavement [3]. Based on traffic loads and expected solar radiation on roadways, a wide range of applications of piezoelectric technology [4], thermoelectric technology [5,6], and photoelectric systems [7,8] could be integrated into the roadway to produce a considerable amount of renewable en- ergy. Current thermal energy harvesting techniques can be categorized into three types: solar thermal [9,10], thermoelectric system [11,12], and photovoltaic system [13]. The thermal gradient systems use thermoelectric generators (TEG), which are powered by the temperature differences between the top and bottom layers of the pavement [14,15], whereas the asphalt solar thermal systems employ asphalt solar collectors which convert Energies 2023, 16, 3338. https://doi.org/10.3390/en16083338 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/energies