Everything you need to know about Solar Roadways.

Wimp.com ^ | May 29, 2014 | Unknown

[Twotone]

Video about a new solar panel technology.

[Twotone]

Mentioned on Fox & Friends this morning, it's certainly an interesting concept.

[DoughtyOne]

http://singularityhub.com/2014/05/22/following-the-solar-brick-road-to-clean-energy-and-smart-roadways/

[discostu]

It sounds great, all the way up until the tire tracks, and dripped oil, and overloaded semis, and flattened tires, and all the other stuff that beats up and coats our roads start happening.

[DoughtyOne]

Saw this a couple of days ago, and IMO, it's sheer brilliance.  I may be missing something, but this looks amazing.

Thanks for bringing it to folk's attention.


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[cripplecreek]

Not to mention what winter does to the roads here in the north.

[sharkhawk]

Where do they get all the rare earth minerals needed to make all those solar panels? To say nothing of the problem of damage, replacement, how do they work in Chicago or Minnesota in the winter.

[sickoflibs]

Let CA and Oregon try it first. They are no used to keeping their own $$$ anyway,

[Twotone]

It can also be used on sidewalks & other places. I agree that there would no doubt be problems on roads, but there are other options that would seem to reasonable.

One correction to my original comment - it was on the Weather Channel (which we’d turned to briefly for the local weather), not F&F.

[DoughtyOne]

Actually, if you look at a freeway, the main wear is in pretty centralized areas. Most of the surface goes pretty much unscathed. Local highways are generally wider than necessary, and much of the surface would remain rather infrequently used.

I do see some concerns along the lines of what you mention, but I’m not convinced they’re deal breakers.

Certain costs associated with roadways would be eliminated altogether. Some of those reductions could be used for repairs. And if the energy production reaches it’s full potential, this would by far more than pay for itself.

[DoughtyOne]

The panels are warm. Snow melts. In colder regions, these could actually be a fairly good thing.

[Freeping Since 2001]

I assume it will essentially be a panel behind a glass window. Good luck with the traction on that baby. A wet day will be like an oil slick.

Of course, this is about attention and PR, because there’s plenty of space on the sides of most roads for solar panels that don’t need to be DRIVEN OVER.

[thackney]

Not all solar panels are built with Cadmium telluride. Crystalline silicon works as well.

[discostu]

I think it’s good for decks and patios, sidewalks get almost as much accumulated dirt as roads. It’s a neat idea, with potential, but like so many alternative energy plans not nearly as much potential as proponents hope for.

[Salgak]

. . .and where are they going to store all the toxic byproducts of mining and refining those rare earths ? Or deal with the fact that solar cell output drops over time, necessitating replacement.

Then there are the networking and power transmission and storage requirements.

Basically, the real problem is Commander Scott’s objection:

“Ye kenna chainge the laws ‘o physics. . . .”

[discostu]

The “main wear” area being near cities where you need electricity. Although the hinterlands have their own problems, the ever popular desert brown road.

I don’t think any of the costs of roads go away, they’re going to have to sit on something, which will have to have all the usual flattening and sealing done to it. Basically you’re looking at a road with a much more expensive top, and more manual labor to put the top in place, and it’s less durable. Very little chance it generates enough electricity to come near offsetting itself.

[DoughtyOne]

I’ve been wrong before, but I believe there’s something to this. Of course I thought wind generation was a great idea too years ago.

[discostu]

The big problems are durability and cleanliness. It’s got to be able to take a massive beating, and find a way for the sun to still get to it after thousands of cars have left their dirt on it. And I think the cleanliness will be the hardest one to solve, it’s amazing how dirty roads are. They put in decorative cross walks in downtown Tucson a decade or so ago, used colored bricks, really pretty for about 6 months, then they grey started hitting them hard, by the end of the first year they’re basically invisible, you can see the texture of the bricks but they’re the same color as the rest of the road. No way solar panels will work with that much grunge on them.

[ponygirl]

I saw this over the weekend. My first thought was - that looks slippery, even with the "textured" glass. Second thought was - that looks unbelievably expensive.

But I have often wondered why they don't do something like this for driveways or parking lots. A while back there were some advocating for some type of paving blocks that grass would grow on, which looked like a good idea for parking lots where it wouldn't get as hot as pavement does. Especially lots that don't fill totally up except maybe during the holidays or during sporting events.

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[DoughtyOne]

There’s truth in what you say. I have noticed how dirty roadways are. Let me ask you this. If these roadways operated at 1/3rd optimal rating, they would supply the energy needs for the nation, would that be a bad thing?

At full rating, they supposedly would provide enough energy to supply the nation’s needs three times. Folks make a lot of wild claims, so this is for what it’s worth.