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This thread is inspired by another: view original post
Edited by HurtfulTurkey:
6/2/2014 9:19:34 PM
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Solar roadways will never happen, & are stupid.
Just gonna tl;dr this shit since this needs to get cleared up, fast.
-Each tile costs roughly $3,000 per square foot, not including cost of maintenance and installation (holy shit that's a lot!)
-Roads are not an ideal surface for solar panels because they are frequently covered by cars, dirt, oil, water, etc
-Glass is unsuitable to drive on
-The government would need to buy a separate power line system (cannot be simply "plugged into" existing power lines)
-Solar panels are optimally angled towards the sun, not straight up
-The issue with solar isn't the lack of space to put panels (they go very well on roofs, parking cover, etc.), it's the current cost of producing and maintaining panels vs. the value of the energy they generate
Watch the video for some more. Solar roadways were never going to happen. Maybe next time you guys will use a bit more scrutiny after watching a video with a caricatured person saying "whoooaaa" liked a stoned dumbass, or telling you that the world is going to look like Tron.
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But the future is heer.
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1 ReplyTime changes a lot. To say that it will never happen is bold claim. And an short sighted one.
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Every time I hear about this, I think about the Unbreakable Filament star road things from the Greg Bear Halo novels. [spoiler]*Patiently awaits Lord of Admirals*[/spoiler]
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Edited by risay_117: 6/4/2014 7:47:12 AMNot sure, considering it can be done, maybe with footpaths or barriers etc. Plus we could get some results that can be used elsewhere from this.
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Solar means powered by the sun. The sun is a star. Roadways can be shortened to roads. Star roads. [spoiler]Somebody fire up the Halo rings, cause shit's going down if they build these.[/spoiler]
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Subways can be up to a million dollars per square foot
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5 RepliesEdited by Le Dustin xddddd: 6/3/2014 7:45:49 PM[quote]-Glass is unsuitable to drive on[/quote]Just as a another technicality, glass can be as strong as steel, if you're concerned that they may crack. The glass can also be textured so that they can provide perhaps even better traction than asphalt/bricks/rocks/dirt (the glass would have to be ridged in the right way so that it doesn't deflect the Sun's rays, but this is a surmountable problem).
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Edited by Bolt: 6/4/2014 2:44:27 AMI'm really glad someone made this. Anyone who thought this was viable knows nothing about how solar panels work, which is fine, but sad when you consider those people were willing to part with over a million dollars. I haven't finished the video yet, but I hope they bring up the chemical waste solar panels produce when made. Pro-tip for avoiding getting bamboozled: the oil industry has always promoted solar power, because they [i]do[/i] know the engineering behind it, and they know it will never be a threat to them. Now sit back and relax while we show you misleading graphics about why Fukushima has killed us all twice, but don't get so scared that you turn off the tv before watching the oil company's 30 ads in as many minutes for "GREEN GREEN GREEN."
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You are right that they are completely impracticle, and at the current state of our technology they will not get use. That does not mean they will never happen. you never know what advances in technology may If we can improve solar tech it may one day become a reality....but not now
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Not until they invent tarmac that converts sunlight into usable energy.
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B-b-but! They're SOLAR FREAKIN ROADWAYS!
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Solar roadways sound awesome in theory, but really aren't efficient or cost effective enough yet to be practical. Great video though. Very informative.
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I just liked how they looked honestly, the idea of programmable roads was cool. That can be done with small lights anyway though... I can see them (or at least the color aspects) used heavily at hotel and casino entrances because holy shit look at that. No practical use though.
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2 RepliesThis makes me sad.
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[quote]& are stupid.[/quote] That's hurtful
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1 ReplyWait, some people seriously thought solarpanels on a roadway surface was a viable energy solution? The idea that even using an acrylic surface to protect the solar cells would survive road traffic and other environmental damage is absurd. That's not to say that large projects where solar cells are installed on great tracts of land or already existing infrastructure won't happen, but it certainly won't happen on roadways. Not using solar cells at least. Perhaps something thermal could work, but there are still a ton of engineering obstacles to overcome before anyone would seriously look at it as an energy source in the macro.
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How is this even a flame war? rooftops make more sense...
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Edited by God: 6/3/2014 2:49:44 AMWait, people thought that would be a good idea in the first place? That's one of the last places where I would have considered it effective to cover in solar panels.
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I can see it being viable on bicycle paths and walkways where surface loads would be relatively minimal. I know of no glass substrate that can stand up to the mass of a big ri, or even a large truck for that matter, without suffering some serious structural failure. I can see them supporting bicycles and foottraffic, but to keep up power output they would be needed to be cleaned frequently.
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Or they can just place solar panels on streetlights like they're doing here in Louisiana. Solar panels on roof/surface here wouldn't be a good idea with hurricanes and constant storms though, underground electricity is still better.
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At the very least, even if they aren't used for roads, their points are still valid. Driveways, rooftops, and so on. The amount of space that every roof of a mall takes adds up to quite a bit. Everybody seems to think that the panels have to live up to this standard of beating all other power sources by using sheer mass and space to generate power, but they don't. Even if you have them powering simple things on the streets like lights, it takes off that much more of a need for using energy from other sources, which we are trying to move away from. Every damn scrap you can get counts in this field, and these panels, although not likely to be implemented into the roads, is a good step, and a good point. People have to try.
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5 Replies[quote]-Each tile costs roughly $3,000 per square foot, not including cost of maintenance and installation (holy shit that's a lot!)[/quote]new technology is always prohibitively expensive. [quote]-Glass is unsuitable to drive on[/quote]>implying "glass" is just like window glass or drinking glasses. there's some really durable glass with lots of friction. i'd really like to see solar roadways explored in places like the american southwest where the sun is almost always shining. it's a great concept that obviously needs more work to become realized.
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4 RepliesPlus, in parts of the world where this thing called "winter" happens, a snowplow would pretty much dig the whole damn panel line up after the first blizzard.
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Edited by Legend To None: 6/3/2014 12:55:11 AMThey will probably make tired for these roadways if they ever become real. The aren't gunna be like "Okay, heres a road way to drive on with you're everyday car from the early 21st century!"
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9 RepliesMan, I am really getting tired of having to combat these faulty points left-and-right whenever someone says this is a ridiculous idea. The answers to literally all of those problems can be found in either the FAQ. The only figure that isn't answered there is a bit harder to find; the cost. Solar panel roads at current cost about [url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/05/30/solar-roadways-indiegogo_n_5416811.html]70 dollars per square foot,[/url] which is admittedly more expensive than asphalt at around 15 dollars a square foot, but the price tag is going to go down as they become more prevalent and as they come out of the prototype stage, which they are currently in. It's also nowhere near the ridiculous 3000 dollars a square foot you're proposing. And actually, installation is relatively cheap as currently-existing roads are to be used as the foundation. On top of that, maintenance costs are reduced from one or more days to just a few hours, as maintenance consists of popping a broken panel out and another one in. So both of those are moot. Thankfully people who don't know anything about engineering aren't running the Federal Highway Administration, (who have contracted these people twice already) aren't distributing the World Technology Award and aren't in charge of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. (Who have given them an award themselves) If they were then all of the potential in this new technology might be lost before it even gets off the ground.
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Thanks, Rose.
