If You Need Any Convincing That Solar Roadways Are The Future, This Video Will Help

This is a great idea and I hope it gains steam.

All the reasons that this should be implemented now, and why it would be so good, are all the same reasons tptb will oppose letting this actually happen. This would seem to run afoul of their model of socio-economic control and manipulation.

AMAZING. I love things like this. They've done well on their indiegogo campaign.

I just hope this IS the future. But it means coal/oil become much less valuable - big NO NO. It won't happen until "they" stop being greedy.

Such a system would create a quagmire. Would the electric being generated be property of the state in which case I am sure the socialist insults would be flowing forth from big bis or their mouthpieces.

a reply to: schuyler

And when they did they had engineering studies and cost-benefit analyses that showed the benefits of doing so, And they did so a small city at a time.

And so would this, they are not going to throw it on the road tomorrow.

I would assume private drives and parking and then fancy tourist parts of the cities first. The country highways and such would surely be a long time after.

originally posted by: Wrabbit2000
a reply to: Char-Lee

The last several dresses have turned out to be faulty material and workmanship right from the planning phase.

I'll go with patching the one almost bare to being legally indecent.

After we can stand without our tails swinging in the breeze (or bridges falling down at the most inopportune moments as just the warning shot) then I'm all for a dispassionate look at what may really work for road technology. It does seem silly we're using the same basic stuff that's been around since someone found a dirt road to be..well, dirty.

The problem I see is the money is all being spent unwisely. Where I live 2 bridges were just replaced on a country road. The road had a handful of people living on it off grid. The road slides and is unusable most of the winter, I see a few fishermen use it. Why spend two years working on new bridges there when the main highway need the same size and type bridges!

i see this kind of stupidity all the time.

HEY! I have contacted some people in m town that are interested into looking into this!

a reply to: Char-Lee

Seems to me that the perfect time to be talking about a project like this is within the same breath as crumbling infrastructure. Why replace with more tar and cement that do nothing but crack and crumble and need to be torn up and replaced every two years?

This is a great idea!!! If the U.S. can cover up to 100,000+ square miles of highly sunlight roadways and/or desert that will provide enough power to meet ALL of our energy needs, we won't need oil anymore!!

I support this wholeheartedly!!

If we could only get the "oil cartels" to change their ways and embrace completely solar energy. It's as if the oil cartels and the entire secret government are being run by Montgomery Burns from the Simpsons!!

Fossil fuels are the past, renewable energy is the future. I believe the following metaphor is apt, just as oil is the product of dead dinosaurs and plant matter, its use as an energy source will itself go the way of the dinosaur. In more ways than one, oil represents death, the death of dinosaurs, plants, people, soldiers, constitutional freedoms, free government, free speech, the climate, etc.

Though as I have detailed in some of my postings this may require very large infrastructure changes in the U.S., namely upgrading the electrical infrastructure so that it can meet ALL of our energy needs. Furthermore, we will have to change nearly all form of transportation to electric, cars, buses, trains, mining machinery. These infrastructure projects will provide jobs for millions of Americans for decades, furthermore, this infrastructure can be built, maintained, and operated only in the U.S. Though it may cost some money to change the U.S. completely to electric, in the end the U.S. will have the ability to become completely energy independent and the economy will be able to grow without worries about oil production and gasoline prices.

Once the U.S. is completely energy independent, then it can carry out operations indefinitely getting rid of all sorts of hyper-corrupt government around the world.

How about we focus on getting rid of all the corrupt world governments first? Then this will be a great idea...

Wow. I was slow to get to this party, but I'm dang sure glad I made it! This is BRILLIANT!!!
And...I'm sure very disturbing to the coal/natural gas/stuff we burn for fuel industries.

Well, I really don't care if they are disturbed and their shareholders freak out - their investors should just reinvest in the future and they themselves should be getting on board with their $$$ to CREATE this for our planet. Of course, its hard to put a meter on the Sun, so... *sigh* Isn't that what doomed Tesla? JP Morgan wanted something he could put a meter on and charge per unit...

Anyway - I loved the video. I wish these guys the absolute best = and I hope they start the Green Revolution that really needs to happen...I won't hold my breath, but I can dream!

peace,
AB

I love the idea,but I don't see the gov't doing ANYTHING till its way too late.Crappy attitude...I know,just going by their track record.

a reply to: nighthawk1954

HELL yes. How has it taken this long for someone to invent a genuinely useful, environmentally-friendly and economical idea like this?

Great video, also a wonderful thread. I would have to formally disagree with this though. In my opinion If we are going to go anywhere towards the future we should be messing with the earths magnetic fields, and magnets themselves. Not the sun. Although this idea is pretty good, if it could be somehow combined with magnetic roadways we could very well be flying around.

Skip to 2:30 just for an example

Magnetic Levitation

Megnetic levitation

Just a few videos of what I'm talking about. Thats for another thread another time though. and again my opinion on this matter.

But to get back on track with your thread, It is a pretty cool idea and I can't wait to see what happens 10 years from now with more stuff like this! Thanks

originally posted by: Char-Lee
they are not going to throw it on the road tomorrow.

I would assume private drives and parking and then fancy tourist parts of the cities first. The country highways and such would surely be a long time after.

That's it, you know how it works. To put this idea on every roadway in America would take a few generations. I haven't seen the video since this morning, but I sure hope the couple who invented this has children. They'll need 'em.

Personally, I think this is best invention since sliced bread, but like you said, it's going to start small. It has to in order to gain traction, attention and the trust of those who have to maintain the major roadways. The Interstate system in America is too vital an instrument in the economy to just slap down an untested replacement.

It is a good idea in every aspect. Versatile, long lasting and reliable.
Sounds like something the PPTB would never get past your Driveways and sidewalks. Personal Non Commercial use

Something that can create 3 times the amount of energy that we currently create today will never go over.
Money would slip from certain hands and that is not allowed.

Again Great Idea, I hope cities across the country try and bid for this kind of system. The LED's alone with their infinite use areas, and heated Roads would be a huge step forward for the cost of maintenance, amount of accidents and so forth.

End of Line...........................

a reply to: nighthawk1954

Absolutely brilliant, I hope that this is a success and in california where electric car's are becoming more common a charging station on a private road with the harvested energy providing the fuel for the cars would be a good venture, this is the America we in the rest of the world want to see again, a futuristic and hope driven free nation where inventiveness can be a rout to success and God I hope they succeed, I hope it very very much indeed.

Does anyone have a link to their actual data?

The numbers page is just a picture of trigonometric transformations and assumptions of real world efficiency in a single climate.

I understand several of these guys are experienced with these sort of projects, but with over $500K in donations and $750K contract with the DoT I was expecting far more data and professional presentations. I did not search very hard and didn't see any info on what sort of post assembly stress tests aside from factory numbers.

This project is very much in its infancy so I would be more interested in seeing how well the system would work for a quarter mile stretch doing what they aim to do.

*Also very unnerving how strongly they support such a centralization of producing power . . . it is like they have never read a history book about monopolies . . . nice idea, but not likely to be realized.

-FBB

originally posted by: schuyler
The only thing freakier than the concept itself is the freaky hysterical positive reaction to it.

Earth to everyone. Are you people freaking kidding me? Is "It will pay for itself!" the limit of your economic IQ?

There are so few who seem to agree with you in this thread, let me join the minority view here by saying I agree. Any time I've looked at the economics of solar cells, it's not that great. I really think that before these systems would pay for themselves, we'd have better solar cell technology, in three main areas of concern which some people other than you don't seem to be fully considering:

-initial cost
-maintenance cost
-efficiency (initial)
-efficiency (in operation, with the surface covered in dirt, dust, oil rubber, etc)

I do see some promise for this technology in the future if all these issues are satisfactorily addressed, but aside from the hype, the data doesn't convince me that these issues have been satisfactorily addressed. They claim so on a superficial level, but it doesn't seem to stand up to scrutiny.

Uh...isn't all this D/C Current going to fry the electronics in your car let alone what it's going to do to your brain?

Can imagine sitting in traffic going to work for an hour - you will have a nice glow walking in the office or literally glowing. lol

Your better off sleeping on a High Tension Wire everyday for the rest of your life.