Crowdfunding campaign raises 2.2 million to build Solar Roadways

originally posted by: lostbook

I think this is an idea whose time has come.....What says ATS?

I personally think it is a terrible idea, for all of the reasons listed in this snarky video:

BUT there are many more VIABLE options out there such as:

Solar Powered Shingles on your home
More Solar Shingles

Flexible Solar Panels for uneven applications such as corrugated steel roofs

You could mount a Vertical Axis Wind Turbines on your roof in an afternoon, or put on a dozen and be your own little power plant

Flat Roof Solar Arrays on your local businesses

What about Solar Billboards, where the ink on the paper generates electricity?!

Solar Windows installed on those giant glass skyscrapers? Yup, they exists too.

Or even better yet, SOLAR FREAKIN' PAINT You think we've got a lot of roads? Imagine if all it would take to exponentially expand our use of solar energy was to smear it on with a paint brush!!

All of these sciences have been tested and proven to be viable. There is no massive rebuilding of the power grid, no public building works that dwarf the WPA and the TVA of the 1930's , no chances of municipalities being left holding the bag if it doesn't pan out, or is linked to some roadway disaster and in short no need to reinvent the wheel.

Asphalt is green. It is recycled over and over. It creates a great road surface and only prematurely cracks because it is applied thin to save money in the short term. If we copied the concrete Autobahn (Depending on the local climate and ground conditions, the German Autobahn ranges in concrete thickness from about 21 inches thick to about 33 inches thick according to National Geographic.) the roads would last much longer but concrete is very UNgreen and much more expensive in the short term.

Cost analysis does show concrete is cheaper in the long term though...

However creating a solar freakin' roadway is not the answer to our quest for energy independence. Implementing the technology that we already have at our disposal is.

a reply to: Lipton

Watching a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng string of naysayers

over 60+ years . . .

I've come to distrust almost everything they say . . .

and even the stuff they say that has a shred of validity . . . I say . . . so what.

TRY IT OUT . . . tinker with it . . . TRY TO MAKE IT WORK.

Naysayers do NOT KNOW everything like they seem to THINK they do.

Innovation, progress, improvements in life and society are

NOT MADE BY NAYSAYERS throwing rocks at those who are DOING something vs blathering negatively.

Sigh.

originally posted by: Qumulys
No.
Don't give this thick couple any money. This solar roadways thing is a unworkable mess. They have not even thought this thing through properly. Take a look at this video.

That's a great video which I didn't see before but it covers some of the same points I made in another thread about this idea. I agree with 99% of what he says, the only part he exaggerates a little is the need to put high voltage lines along every single roadway as some hind of hybrid grid could be used but it's a little nitpick because it would still not be economically rational even with a more efficient system than the one he describes.

I'm all for efficient solar power but under the roads? That's the last place we should put it.

As a replacement for tar road ways I don't think it'll work out very well. But I think it would be fine for a bike path or maybe a sidewalk. I don't see getting the giant power returns they're saying.

They should take their test road to the local drag strip let the racers there have at it. Lab tests are nice, but they don't always show all the problems that need to be addressed.

a reply to: BO XIAN

I don't see how attempting to solve a problem that doesn't exist with a solution that is ludicrously expensive to implement and maintain (as well as being wholly impractical for its intended purpose) is a good use of people's funds.

Another problem I’d like to bring to attention is traffic accident. Sure the new digital glass roadway might stop some of them but they’ll still happen, and when they do not only will you be dealing with broken down car part but also now a large amount of broken glass, solar panels and live wires.

What measures are in place to cut power to the damaged panels to prevent someone from getting shocked in a wreck? If the panels are gathering as much power as they would like then that would give someone a good jolt. But even if it’s not enough to cause a lethal shock it would more likely be enough to cause a spark, and in a major traffic accident fuel leaks can be a common problem. It would add risk of fire after the accident.

I’d like to see them take a 10lbs sledge hammer and drop it from waist high on to one of the panels, to see how well it holds up to a solid metal impact.

a reply to: GetHyped

It's conceivable that you are right.

It's conceivable that you are wrong.

I also suspect that a plastic or some other substance exists or could be invented which might be better than the glass.

a reply to: GreenMtnBoys

Where'd you get your figures for cost, if you don't mind me asking?

a reply to: GetHyped

A problem that doesn't exist?

Do you not think we have an energy crisis on the rise?

a reply to: parad0x122

Put them by the side of the road. Put them OVER the road. Both options would be far cheaper and more practical than solar "freaking" roadways.

Would be cheaper to upgrade our electrical distribution system. Longer lasting, as well.

They should put panels next to the road just high enough that I don't have to deal with the sun hitting me right in the eyes as I drive to work int he morning or in the afternoon. Keep drivers from being blinded by the rising sun and setting sun and make a little power on the side.

a reply to: GetHyped
Agreed, this particular solution isn't cost effective at all.

But on another point, I always wondered what would happen when it rained? I mean glass covered in water is just as slippery as ice so..I don't see how this would be safe, either.

a reply to: parad0x122

The makes said they textured the glass so it wouldn't be. But you would think such a texture on glass would cause it to lose it clarity, there by cutting that amount of power the solar cells could make.

a reply to: ObjectZero

Yeah, that's another good point. It sucks that it's too expensive at this point in time, because I love the idea and the positive impact it' could have but... I just don't like the feeling the creators give me. I can just see them laughing there way to the bank after the prototype fails :-/