Solar Roadways

A few years ago I heard about Solar panels being used as roadways, to power the future.

[video=youtube;qlTA3rnpgzU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlTA3rnpgzU[/video]

Do you think this is possible, and do you think it would actually generate enough power the country, and allow us to go 100% renewable energy?

 

No and no. It would be a maintenance nightmare. The sun doesn't always shine.

 

Seems too contrived and it isn't like there is anything cheap when it comes to roads to begin with. Would be easier just to fill fields with panels.

 

No, it’s not at all practical and none of the various attempts have gone beyond (expensive) proof-of-concepts. I think they are far too many practical considerations already required for modern road surfaces to be able to add the requirements for this kind of technology. It might be viable on footpaths but I’m really not convinced it’s necessary anyway, given all the other surface areas that could take conventional solar panels (primarily rooftops).

Regardless of the source, solar power is never going to be able to provide 100% of the power demand without massive progress in energy storage solutions. It can still play a major role though, especially at the domestic scale and should be encouraged but the whole area needs a level or realism and practicality too.

 

That's my idea. I really don't know why that hasn't been done on a MASSIVE scale. There is so much space in the desert. That would be good use of such space. Also they could be put on buildings everywhere. I have said for many years now that we need to be doing things like this

 

Indeed, energy storage is a the big hurdle. That said, if you have enough panels everywhere, you could go a long way towards providing a significant amount of power.

BTW, I heard that Germany is considering banning the production of gasoline engines, or something like that.

 

When solar panels can be made from glass that are thick enough to have the strength needed to surface a roadway, the concept will work. Plastic requires petroleum and lacks the strength.

We are not conserving enough energy in the way we live. That is the place to start.

 

I would argue that the problem is less the way we live individually and more the way our lives are serviced by others.

 

Yes, corporations dictate the way we live and they are about profits.

 

When it becomes cost-effective it will be done. It didn't require any laws to put smartphones in every pocket.

 

Agreed.

Our absurdly stupid tendency to spread out over great distances and waste our land is the first problem. The fact that we have to move so much distance in the first place is the first problem.

It's probably not an exaggeration to say that we are using twice as much energy as comparable communities in other developed countries, especially East Asian countries.

Check this out:

https://www.worldenergy.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/PUB_Energy_and_urban_innovation_Case_Study_Tokyo_2010_WEC.pdf

"Tokyo, when compared to other megacities of its type has a very small energy consumption
per capita (69MJ/p) against 178MJ/p in New York and 85MJ/p in London."

Overall, Japan uses about half as much total energy as America.

 

Yes. The triad of considerations are (1) energy collection, (2) energy transmission, (3) energy storage. This looks to be a very interesting possibility for number one...

Exactly. I'd be interested to know the results of their two "proof of concept" installations...

 

Strength isn’t the main sticking point. The surface needs appropriate grip and flexibility characteristics, longevity, ease of maintenance, weather resistance, safe failure and probably some element of self-cleaning, all while maintaining the efficient passage of light through to the actual panels.

Basically, all of the requirements for a road surface and all the requirements for a solar panel multiply together to create something many times more complex and difficult than either alone.

 

Oh it’s definitely interesting, I just don’t think it’s viable on any significant scale in the foreseeable future and that there are much better implementations of solar panels that we’ve not fully exploited.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_highway#Photovoltaic_pavement should link through to the relevant information. Solar Roadways was the one I was primarily thinking of.

 

While solar is a pretty practical solution for residential power, transportation provides a whole set of new challenges.

One gallon of gas contains the equivalent of 33 kWh of electrical energy. We have a 11 kW solar array on our house, it produces between 20 and 65 kWh a day. If someone uses about 2 gallons a day (average for vehicles), that means they need to produce 66 kWh in energy -- only possible on the best days with our array, which is already big. So, you'd need probably another 20 kW solar panels for transportation for two cars per household, or more to ensure short charging times. Now, that's a lot of solar panels.

The real solution for this would be to make cares much cheaper and lighter, and higher efficiency using the electric motor instead of the ICE. This will need a transformation of the whole infrastructure. However, it WILL have to happen, the question is not if but WHEN.

 

Yes, thank you for that post with the facts.

Americans consumption of energy is fairly well controlled by media and the fact that they do not share a perception of life style that does anything but consume energy. Consumption of energy = corporate profits.

We are serving corporate profits with our lives and it is going to compromise the lives of future generations seriously IF we cannot stop.

When WE; and the word is defined mostly by our agreement or unity, use our right to url=http://algoxy.com/law/lawfulpeacefulrevolution.html]alter or abolish[/url], THEN corporations will have to cease their leadership for their purposes of profit.

 

Yep, per capita energy use is through the roof in the US, almost double of other industrialized nations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_energy_consumption_per_capita

Most of that is due to transportation and badly-insulated homes.

 

Yes, zoning and real estate speculation or defining the market values. Bank problem or too many clones living under bank priorities. Government serving corporate interests again.

 

Transportation and density. Having one-story buildings with a hundred yards between them in virtually every area tends to reduce efficiency. Most Americans think they need a bunch of space, but that is only because they have never experienced the benefits of high density, of which there are many.

As ChristopherABrown has pointed out, zoning laws are a big part of the problem. It's okay to have some restrictions on land use, but we have far too many, and it is preventing us from building a more efficient and affordable society.

Yep, these corporate interests make a killing off of all the regulations.

 

I'm glad all you solar engineers are here to guide us away frm frivolous, impossible fantasies.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/apr/19/sandpoint-innovators-solar-road-panels-remove/

http://www.networkworld.com/article/2921244/data-center/solar-power-road-surface-actually-works.html

http://newatlas.com/solar-panel-roads/12780/

http://www.iflscience.com/technology/solar-roads-could-power-entire-country/

 

well "technically" they are already made thick enough for vehicles to drive on, the same folks who have been doing this for geez over a decade now, have it in a "workable" form as a driving surface... the problem is the INSANE cost in order to make each one and what would be required, its still a complete loss as a result of cost, there is no scaleability with the current form that will be a break even or profit... they just need to advance the technology a couple more generations before scale can assist benefit...

I was only interested in this method because of the road resurfacing was estimated be quite significantly different and quicker so my hope was some day roads could be rebuilt in a day instead of weeks... the side benefit was the energy to me... others are already working on a next generation solar road that essentially shoots the power back up to cars driving over it recharging them on the fly rather than to a grid system... think of samsungs new exploding phones, and their wireless charging...

but nothing has advanced enough that we can scale at todays costs to ever receive a cost effective benefit... but hey, my first bag phone cost $5000 right... now phones fit in a pocket and cost $30 new... give it a couple decades and check back heh...

 

There are aspects of the current global warming/climate change that really look like corporate energy interests trying to misrepresent the facts in order to squeeze more money out of the public.

Or, because it is supposed to be, within the scam, carbon into the atmosphere causing the warming, therefore corporations have to spend money on measures, therefore they increase the costs to us.

At the same time, the Inuit of the Artic state the sun is not in the same place in the sky while days are much longer and seals are getting sunburns. NASA will not respond to their emails, but DOES make a report stating that Antartica ice is increasing. This is indication that the earths axis is wobbling, which it has done historically according to geologists and that the earths axis has tilted towards the sun at the north.

Not that we do not have to reduce carbon output, but it seems there is a scam that makes more money for corporations while also being used to justify more regulation. In a world controlled by the people, we would have an orderly gradual change with FULL ability to communicate the facts with the PURPOSE of free speech.

This while election fraud is rampant, with NO ACCOUNTABILITY, and the war started with 9/11 (never properly investigated) is going on 15 years.

People need to wake up and realize we can only depend on one another, and that begins with agreeing that we love and support our constitution with resolve to restore constitutional government through our lawful and peaceful revolution.

 

Workable and practical are different, particularly when it comes to the long term need for roads, heavy trucks, and UV breakdown of plastics.

I would suggest that an entirely new technology using solar energy to make glass furnaces needs to be developed specifically for making solar road blocks. The application exceeds that which plastic can realistically handle.

Perhaps, but I build roads for a living, albeit on a small scale, but I understand what it takes and the paving is but the last, small part of the project. However, asphalt and repaving are kinda stupid, so a glass road that had other benefits would be awesome.

Something tells me that only a small part of the intentions of corporate science and technology is directed at the benefit of the species. We would not have been manipulated into using petroleum as we do if that is not true. Accordingly, we really have to purify our leadership in order to expect science and technology to really serve us.

Getting back to fully constitutional government is vital to our futures. If we focus on using our right to alter or abolish, and do it right, it will actually be fairly easy. Not a quick fix, a permanent fix.

If we simply start by agreeing on the most prime constitutional intent, it gets much easier because we invoke a little considered due process of law.

I call these questions, declarations, "The Declarator".

As a Citizen of a state of the united states for America, do you
understand, agree and accept then DECLARE it is constitutional intent
that the framers of the founding documents intended for us to alter or
abolish government destructive to the ideal of our unalienable rights?

As a Citizen of a state of the united states for America, do you
understand, agree, accept then DECLARE it is constitutional intent
that the ultimate purpose of free speech be to enable the unity
adequate to effectively alter or abolish government destructive to the ideal of our
unalienable rights?

 

all I heard was... blah blah blah...

my point is, the technology exists to do it today, but its cost prohibitive... wait a couple decades for the next few generations of this technology to advance, then its fantastic... but I was also pointing out my entire interest wasn't the capturing of energy, my original interest was the speedup of road replacement, the energy was just a total bonus since I imagine the future will all be electric cars that should get charged as they move... I should have known not to reply to anything you say, you always spin into that weird unrelated garbage because its like your signature calling card these days, every (*)(*)(*)(*)ing message you respond to has the exact same ending... my bad, I should know better by now... in fact you'll ironic enough respond to this message and end it the exact same way again... my bad! thats entirely my fault, I should have known...

 

Let me show you electronical engineers take on this:
[video] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obS6TUVSZds[/video]
[video=youtube;HOZBrHqTJk4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOZBrHqTJk4[/video]
[video=youtube;6-ZSXB3KDF0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-ZSXB3KDF0[/video]

[video=youtube;GtkbioiQHmA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtkbioiQHmA[/video]
[video=youtube;_S6kowyvreY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S6kowyvreY[/video]