Solar Roadways

[vileliquid1026]

Anyone else see this? Solar Roadways

Curious of the thoughts of the intelligent folks here.

*Insert troll comments*

Now that that's out of the way...

[Captain]

Great concept, but that's all it'll ever be. Oil/petrol/energy lobbyists will never allow that kind of progress, especially in this cesspool of a continent.

[seremtan]

sounds like a wonderful idea that would provide all the energy we'll ever need, create jobs and help the environment

unfortunately, it would also require lawmakers in the pocket of oil companies and beholden to 'free' market ideas to make it happen, so...

[seremtan]

You'd get better 'news' off a back-alley bog-stall door of a Brixton bender bar.

and you would know, sweetie

[Transient]

Yes, I've read about solar roadways on a few different sites now. They'll never be implemented. They're WAY too expensive compared to traditional roads, and won't work in many areas. They won't hold up to the rigors of the state highway system in many places. Virtually all of northern VT and NH gets re-paved every 5 years or so (some stretches are re-paved annually). I don't care how tough those panels are, if they're put down on a stretch of road which sees tractor trailers going around a bend at 50 MPH at all hours of the day, they'll wear out in short order. Plus, how are those panels going to fare once they've accumulated a modest amount of dirt, mud, tire residue, or ice? Not to mention the channel it requires to be dug out along the side of the road wouldn't fit most roads in Vermont. Lots of embankments get washed away and need to be filled back in on a regular basis. I'm sure it's the same in most other states' rural zones.

On the other hand, this would work great in places like San Francisco.

[Pext]

They're WAY too expensive compared to traditional roads.

Got any actual numbers?

Of course they are expensive now. They are just building the first prototypes.

Compare it to solar panels. They used to be unprofitable - and counting in the energy used up in production they did not even have a positive energy bilance. Both changed as engineers started to understand how they work and how to build them better. Now, solar panels earn you money and produce clean energy. Not en par with wind energy yet. But a friend of mine - working with renewable energies at a large chemical company - estimates that in 5 to 6 years they will have cought up.

And price alone is not the only factor - you have to consider what the price buys you:

- Independence from fossil energies that are most likely not located in your contry. So your country won't have to wage expensive wars.
- Clean energy.

[various technical concerns]

Got any real data or road construction experience or are you just guessing? The streets might even hold longer and need less maintenance.

Concerning the political problems (oil lobby, etc) ~ Yes. Mostly US. The struggles in this direction might still be the easier ones compared to one resource war after the other.

Staying on oil/gas is not an option.

[Transient]

If we could make roads that hold longer and need less maintenance (and are more cost effective than asphalt), we would have done it by now. In order to change the entire infrastructure, these solar panel roads need to solve two massive problems at once and still be able to get government approval. Until such time, way in the future, we will have to settle for driveways and parking lots.

[Whiskey 7]

I've read all & the above.
First I'd heard of them and suspect it will be years before we see any real inroads (pun) to the oil companies grip on the motor car powerplants.
Just look a the take-up of the electric car for comparison.



I do see a good rise but wonder like others above about the acceptance and viability, especially on the road surfaces.

Thanks Wiki for the graph
Yes, I know they are American statistics.

[feedback]

*Insert troll comments*

Every article on that site is "WOW", "I SO SURPRISED", "OMG" and etc. It reads like a sixteen year old's fucking Facebook wall. You'd get better 'news' off a back-alley bog-stall door of a Brixton bender bar.

I make it a point to never click any article that reads anything like "You'll never believe x! WOW!" or "At first I thought x, but y! WOW!" Mental cancer.

[MKJ]

If we could make roads that hold longer and need less maintenance (and are more cost effective than asphalt), we would have done it by now. In order to change the entire infrastructure, these solar panel roads need to solve two massive problems at once and still be able to get government approval. Until such time, way in the future, we will have to settle for driveways and parking lots.

pretty sure that every suburban driveway in the US replaced with this will have a noticable impact. not sure tho.

[Ryoki]

Anyone else see this? Solar Roadways

Was hoping for an article that could explain this strange concept in words, instead it's a hysterical youtube that hurt my brain after 10 seconds.

[vileliquid1026]

Every article on that site is "WOW", "I SO SURPRISED", "OMG" and etc. It reads like a sixteen year old's fucking Facebook wall. You'd get better 'news' off a back-alley bog-stall door of a Brixton bender bar.

Thanks for taking the time to post something completely useless

Was hoping for an article that could explain this strange concept in words, instead it's a hysterical youtube that hurt my brain after 10 seconds.

Sorry I thought the video would be better for digestion than this or this. Seemed to sum it up nicely. But if you'd rather scroll through all that, be my guest. It's also 'flowery' looking.



I thought similarly about the pockets of folks in the oil industry. Also, about major highways. But the parking lot/driveway idea seems like it could be feasible?

I think this is a big deal right now because Stephen Colbert brought it up on his show. It will fizzle for awhile and come back again. Then I'll come here to post about it but 80% of you will be dead so it won't matter anyway.

[Don Carlos]

If we could make roads that hold longer and need less maintenance (and are more cost effective than asphalt), we would have done it by now. In order to change the entire infrastructure, these solar panel roads need to solve two massive problems at once and still be able to get government approval. Until such time, way in the future, we will have to settle for driveways and parking lots.

pretty sure that every suburban driveway in the US replaced with this will have a noticable impact. not sure tho.

I was about to say the same thing. And car parks...

[obsidian]

Was hoping for an article that could explain this strange concept in words, instead it's a hysterical youtube that hurt my brain after 10 seconds.

Same. Some kind of thoughtful analysis could have been interesting, but a video of yelling seems like the kind of edutainment nonsense that Americans contrived to dumb down science into something dilute enough that the bottom half of mouth breathers can understand. It won't make those idiots any smarter, but it will make those of us intelligent enough to understand science get a migraine.

[obsidian]

I don't know how this would work on high use roadways (heavy abuse from trucks already deforms asphalt, skid marks, ice expansion, sinkholes, etc.), but it might do well as an alternative to driveways and parking lots. Instead of just parking your car at the supermarket, you could also be topping off your EV, while the supermarket gets added revenue from the power it supplies.



Semi-related: there's a company in Toronto that installs solar panels on suitable roofs for free. Their pitch is that not only would the panels be completely free, but that they would actually give you an annual cheque. In return, the company plans to profit from selling the generated power back to the grid. Interesting business model. I've seen a number of panels going up on flat-roofed low rise buildings in the area.

http://pure-energies.com/

[MKJ]

they're heated to there won't be any ice tho.

now I'm no physicist but I can imagine that the road would react differently to weight than asphalt because of it's modular and hexagonal design.

[obsidian]

I'm talking about how expanding ice from thaws and freezes causes a lot of road damage. The surface might not have any ice, but the expansion caused by water between or underneath the panel could still cause damage and sinkholes. Anyway, it's all speculation until we see some real trials. It's plausible and it could pay for itself assuming it passes durability tests.

[vesp]

like others, I am highly sceptical of the durability. It's an interesting concept, but extrapolating it out to an entire country-wide network of roads is a bit of a pipe dream, when you see the abuse that sheer volume of normal and freight traffic does to the current road system.
(also how would you safeguard against wilful vandalism? Those plates are very tempting for some bawbags with a crowbar).

In terms of general wear and tear, asphalt roads tend to "potholes" in fairly predictable manners, and holes can be watched, checked, and then repaired by maintenance crews over time (and time is essential for the time it takes to check the area under each maintenance team's purview). Road closures can then be managed so that "old" sections of road that are suffering from general wear can be overhauled as one large project.

So here's the point - how does this modular road system advertise it's wear and tear, or will it generally look "fine" up until the point that one plate (physically) breaks, fails, and is flipped over to jam itself into a wheel at 70mph causing a major accident?

[vesp]

Don't get me wrong, I think it's a neat idea (and the hexagon-plate would be ideal for driveways, car-parks etc where the traffic is slow and steady), but for major roadways a different approach would be needed... perhaps strips down the centre of lanes, where they will be less likely to be driven on.

[Eraser]

Parking lots? But wouldn't all the parked cars block out the sun?

[MKJ]

Not sure if trolling

[seremtan]

pretty sure not thinking straight

[vesp]

aye ,just spraffing at the time - carparks probably not the best!
Thinking about the main roads around my area though, most of them are incredibly busy during the day, and during heavy commuting times most of the road surface would be obscured to the sun...


This'll never happen

[Whiskey 7]

Not sure if trolling

Ask yourself this: There is so much vacant land, why risk it on roads? Make a farm

[U4EA]

[youtube]H901KdXgHs4[/youtube]