A review on hydronic asphalt pavement for energy harvesting and snow melting

Solar energy is undoubtedly the environment friendly and inexhaustible energy resource for humans. The concept of hydronic asphalt pavement (HAP) is an emerging renewable energy technology, which provides an interesting method for solar energy utilization. The innovation of HAP is to mitigate a series of realistic problems related to the asphalt pavement as well as the depletion of fossil energy resource. Fluid circulating through the pipes network imbedded in the asphalt pavement can capture the solar energy and store for later use. This paper summaries the major achievements of the existing literatures about the HAP and gives some proposals for further investigations. Studies have confirmed the feasibility of harvesting solar energy, cooling the pavement, snow melting/deicing as well as air conditioning of buildings by applying innovation technologies on asphalt pavement. As seasonal energy storage technology is relatively mature at present, most of the literatures reviews focus on the influences of variables associated with system behavior as well as the heat transfer processes during snow melting and solar energy collection. Future work should aim to do more urgent issues involved with HAP application: construction technology, maintenance technology, and long-term performance. Solving these problems can strengthen the theoretical and practical understanding of HAP, and lead to more extensive applications.