Topic: Solar Roadways... - page 4. (Read 4538 times)

OK.. then let's compare wind energy with solar energy. Wind energy is about 3 times cheaper when compared to solar energy. What makes you think that solar energy should be preferred over wind energy?

sometimes it's not just about cost. sometimes it's about the rising climate and how it affects the planet we live on. that's actually much more important than making people extremely rich. at least to me.

Slightly off-topic...  but everyone should read this before supporting any form of solar energy.

After Solyndra they might be a little gun shy about suspect green businesses. At least one would hope. Of course common sense is almost non existent in "the district" so you never know.

why not? well, because it might be better to pursue a different option... one where rubber tires are not always trampling over your panels. it would require a hell of a lot of financial assistance from government, and i really doubt they will play along considering the energy industry probably bankrolls hundreds of millions into washington.

what is your choice for alternative energy?


+ tires will leave tracks on the road blocking even more sunlight

btw, it has a lot of flaws, but why the hell not
I mean, people already surpassed the goal, it's going good and it's not polluting..

Aside from the energy efficiency issue, they're also going to be a nightmare as far as safety is concerned.
The LED signage could be hacked quite easily if I'm not mistaken, or at least it won't be particularly hard to do it.

Then there's the funding, crowdfunding will only get you so far, I doubt the plan will be able to attract serious investors

As a theoretical thing, I like it as a way to generate power using space we're using already, normal roadways can get pretty roughed up without repaving every few years. Solar roadways probably won't fare any better until they can find a way to withstand having multiton vehicles driving over them frequently.

The project is financially not viable. They might spend some money (say $100k) on a small demo, and may keep the rest of the money for themselves. This is going to be another gigantic scam.

This would be an awesome project if solar power were ready to be economically feasible. The tech is still years away even with constant tax payer money being dumped into it.

it would make more sense to test out the solar panel roadways for some times, like a year or so.. to see if it's even feasible. if i were even interested in donating, i'd wait for a year after it's been put in effect to see if there are really any positive benefits.

It would be a waste of money, create dangerous roads, and cause so much light pollution we'd never see another star in the night sky.

It'd be awful!

Read my earlier post for more detail.

I'm all for solar panels but where appropriate. This is at best mass stupidity at work and at worst a big scam.

doesn't surprise me.. people like to donate. just give them a feel-good compelling story and they will send money. makes me wonder if there are people who plan to do this to make some money and not spend it on said project.

Wow! Would be amazing if this happens.

They have already raised a total of $1,812,196 in Indiegogo, when compared to the goal of $ 1,000,000. Quite surprising, actually, when there are serious doubts about the viability of this project.

The cost of the tempered glass alone for covering all of the roadways would surpass 20 Trillion dollars,

LEDs would be invisible in daylight.

There is no way to efficiently transfer the energy around the road system without putting up high voltage powerlines costing between 1-2 Million dollars per mile, burying those lines is 10 times more expensive.

The roads would be covered with a small amount of dirt, dirt is harder then glass so the tempered glass would quickly become smooth.

The road is not angled for efficient solar power generation.

Parking lots during the daytime are mostly covered with cars.


Blacktop is 99% recyclable and it is essentially a waste by product so it is very cheap.

Tiles tend to break in the middle and also get dislocated as cars pass by them because the weight isn't distributed equally.

I can keep going all day. It is money thrown down the drain.

EDIT: I'm really into solar generation but putting solar panels on the road is ridiculous. To efficiently transport electricity with only 6-7% losses you need 100-500kV lines which are very expensive. Solar panels are more efficient when placed and an angle or when they are following the sun which is impossible on the road.

The road is covered in traffic, cars and dirt. Passing the sunlight through the tempered glass will certainly take away a big chunk of efficiency and placing solar panels in remote places is the most useless thing a person can do.

Black top is waterproof without allowing the water to stay at the very top while tempered glass can probably not do such a thing.

The tiles would at some point (especially if made out of glass) start moving back and forth and end up breaking in the middle allowing rivulets of water to take out the road foundation and cause disastrous damage.

And about putting solar panels on parking lots, the way to go is to create sheds over the parking lots with the solar panels which have the advantage of allowing people to walk to their cars in the rain without getting wet as well.

Cost of Tempered Glass $20 Trillion.
Cost of Solar panels certainly more than another $20 Trillion
Cost of High Voltage wires for efficient transport of electricity (if buried multiply by 10)  1 Million USD per mile


Disadvantages:

Glass will be soon worn smooth and driving on it while wet then will be suicidal (glass is a 5 on the softness scale)
Super inefficient energy production (Worst possible solar power outcome)
Economically unfeasible
Tiles will crack allowing water to wash away road foundation (Tiles tend to crack in the middle if heavy loads pass over them as they start moving around)
Useless LEDs on the road (Invisible during the full sunlight)
Unserviceable (Even with an automatic machine placing all these tiles is not doable)


Garbage claims:

Keeping the road ice free... 0 Degree ice to 0 degree water (celcius) = 0 degree water to 75 degrees water, generating that amount of energy with solar power during a snowstorm? Impossible

Recycling glass (using colored glass with solar panels?)

Since the glass passed the pendulum test a car can stop on it. (Glass wears smooth a lot faster than blacktop and there isn't any demonstration of a big heavy car going fast and stopping on this glass)

Criminality:

Putting so many LEDs out there would create a huge amount of light pollution so we wouldn't be able to see the stars anymore.

I remember going out on a kayak trip simply so I could see a few more stars, I paddled, and I paddled and I paddled and 4-5 miles away from any living soul the stars were still not all that visible.

Where I live, we also have similar rules. This is one of the reasons why I have never opted for a solar panel, although it would have given me the self-sufficiency as far as the electrical supply is concerned.

xpost

if they used the same tec without the solar part I think they would do well as the roads are always being dug up and that would avoid a lot of problems

and i think solar roads is kind of ridiculous considering the amount of maintenance work that needs to be done. and what about when there's traffic? cars will block the panels which will decrease efficiency.

i don't know about you guys, but in my area if you get solar powered panels.. you still have to pay your utilities company $5-10 a month. it seems like edison lobbied for congress to force solar panel users to be legally required to have edison's grid connect to your home.