Keeling Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

The goal of this project is to reduce transportation carbon emissions by working with State DOTs to utilize underutilized land on the highway ROW for building solar infrastructure.This project began in May 2021 to demonstrate a better and higher use of roadside land and enable widespread scaling of renewable energy in the highway right-of-way (ROW). Fortunately, since its founding in 2014, The Ray has been inspired to demonstrate that the underutilized land along highway roadsides can have a transformative impact.

Executing ROW renewable energy projects reduces carbon emissions and roadside maintenance, among many other benefits. In 2020, The Ray‚ 1MW solar installation on Interstate 85 came online, a critical move for demonstrating feasibility. While the array helped open the door to successfully consult with U.S. transportation agencies to develop ROW solar projects, The Ray quickly recognized the need for resources to support scaling.

Following an initial ROW solar study with the Webber Energy Group (WEG) at UT Austin, The Ray worked with Esri in 2020-2021 to create an advanced solar mapping and analysis tool that could adapt to a community‚ unique needs. Already a trusted State DOT partner and known to engineer the most innovative solutions for digital transformation and advanced analytics, Esri is the natural facilitator of this work. Now The Ray is partnering with transportation agencies across the U.S. to perform custom solar suitability analysis for ROW land and streamline the development of renewable energy projects.

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Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

The Ray‚ value of equity and inclusion is reflected in the organization‚ staffing. The Ray is unique in its all-women leadership team and diverse intern staff. 

In the US, women make up approximately 15% of the transportation industry workforce and only 21% of the utility sector workforce, with significantly less representation in the C-suite for both sectors. Leadership at The Ray has successfully created a space that uplifts the voices, ideas and expertise of women both within and outside of our organization. One of the primary ways we accomplish this is by building projects. In the transportation and utility sectors, one becomes an expert and earns credibility by literally building. The ROW solar mapping tool removes critical barriers to planning ROW projects, creating opportunities to build infrastructure and gain critical project experience by providing transportation agencies with confidence to move forward.


The Ray also works to uplift underrepresented voices through its partnership with Georgia State University (GSU), which is home to one of Georgia‚ largest minority student populations. The undergraduate student population of GSU ranks nationally in the top ten percent for overall diversity and top five percent for ethnic and racial diversity. 

The Ray will enter into a multi-year partnership with the Department of Geosciences at GSU to offer undergraduate and graduate-level internships to perform key data input and analysis functions using the ROW solar mapping tool. The sophistication of the ROW solar mapping tool and the rigors of the analyses and capabilities, including the digital twin function, creates cutting-edge, on-the-job training opportunities and affords a robust, cross-sector experience for students. 

The Ray and the GSU Department of Geosciences have determined that a ROW Solar Tool clinic for The Ray can be established, creating a sustainable pipeline for inclusive professional development.

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