BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is about to test run a solar sidewalk.

The walkway will generate power and light.

2018 will see a walkway change from brick, to a system of solar panels you can walk on.

“And not just lifeless boring solar panels, smart, micro-processing, interlocking, hexagonal solar units,” according to a YouTube video for the panels.

A prototype was unveiled Monday of what will replace a small segment of the Harbor brick walkway. The solar panels were provided by Solar Roadways.

Scott Brusaw came up with the idea of encasing solar cells and putting them on the road.

“And that’s what you’re seeing here,” Brusaw said. “Those little blue rectangles are solar cells, and you can drive a truck on them now.”

The Abell Foundation embraced the concept with funding for 36 panels near the Baltimore Visitor’s Center as a way of testing for possible future use.

Robert Embry, Abell Foundation president, believes this could be game changing.

“The potential of this producing electricity from wasted sunlight, and the roadways today are a wasted opportunity, that I saw it as a great thing for the world, but also Baltimore City as the first place in the world to demonstrate this technology.”

The Abell Foundation donated $100,000 to the project. Installation is expected to begin in the spring.

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