Samer Dessouky | University of Texas at San Antonio

Social Media Handle: 

Presentation Description

The exploration of Remote-Controlled Solar Films in Pedestrian Sidewalk offers a promising avenue towards integrating sustainable energy solutions within urban infrastructure. This study evaluates the viability, efficiency, and economic and environmental impacts of incorporating photovoltaic (PV) systems into pedestrian pathways. To this aim, two distinct solar panel installations over a six-month timeframe were compared. The investigation suggested that climate parameters, such as air temperature, dew point, humidity, wind speed, atmospheric pressure, accumulated precipitation, solar radiation, and UV index, significantly influenced the efficiency and energy output of the solar panels. For instance, solar radiation at noon and air temperature were identified by a Random Forest (RF) regressor as critical factors affecting charge amounts, highlighting the vital role of environmental conditions in solar energy generation. Additionally, the study meticulously measured foot traffic, noting its impact on panel efficiency, particularly for Panel 1, which saw 'Cumulative Foot Activity' as a notable variable in the RF regressor's feature importance analysis. Furthermore, Panel 1 generated 2093.54 kWh/m² and yielding a Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) of $1.004/kWh. In contrast, Panel 2, outperformed by producing 3087.91 kWh/m² leading to a lower LCOE of $0.45/kWh. Impressively, Panel 2 also surpassed Panel 1 in environmental stewardship by avoiding 1611.89 kg CO2 equivalent emissions per square meter over two decades, compared to 1092.83 kg CO2eq/m² mitigated by Panel 1. This study highlights the use of solar pavements in enhancing urban sustainability by efficient technologies that offer both economic and ecological advantages for long-term infrastructure development.

Keywords: solar energy, infrastructure sustainability; Sidewalks

Speaker Biography

Dr. Samer Dessouky is a professor and assistant director of the school of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Management at University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). He has more than 20 years of research experience in transportation sustainability, pavement materials and traffic safety. Dr. Dessouky has led and participated in state and federal sponsored research projects. He has more than 120 technical publications in top journals. He is the recipient of national awards including the ASCE best green engineering technology awards and Transportation Achievement Award-Design from ITE. He is the associate director of the regional TRAN-SET and Tier-I Trans-IPIC University Transportation Centers. He is a Fellow of the ASCE and active member of the TRB AMS20 committee. Dr. Dessouky is a professional engineer in Ohio and Texas.

Co-presenters

Hamidreza  Allahdadi
University of Texas San Antonio

Amir Tavana Amlashia
University of Texas San Antonio

Presentation File