Centralized Solar arrays are more efficient and better for the cost.
Proof of concepts need to be made to start somewhere, but putting electronics under cars isn't that much of a good idea.
These would be nice, maybe not primarily for power generation but for all the other uses stated in the video. Problem is I don't know the costs, the risks, downsides, etc. I'm naturally skeptical of a video that produces very little downsides for me to see and markets it as some revolutionary tech. I imagine that there would be huge problems with production costs, maintenance, and generally being long-term road worthy.
Aren't they gonna get super dirty super fast and therefor decrease effectiveness?
So I assume this is as grippy as an asphalt roadway would be right?
[QUOTE=l337k1ll4;44890086]So I assume this is as grippy as an asphalt roadway would be right?[/QUOTE]
No it's frictionless
I really fucking hate all these hypy videos about technologies that are basically just conceptual ideas in a lab.
I can see this being a massive pain in the ass to replace.
If they get damaged, a cell is worthless.
Also seems like something people would steal.
It's a nice idea, but wouldn't this be many many times more expensive than asphalt
I would love to donate to such a thing, but jeez it's naive.
Won't happen
[QUOTE=Viper202;44890974]I would love to donate to such a thing, but jeez it's naive.[/QUOTE]
Elaborate how, I know upscaling and economics are a sticky topic for this (Not to mention transistional costs for both the infrastructure and related industries). but the tech is proven (In the works since 2006) and simply needs more tests. Call me overly optimistic, but the tech speaks for itself (no matter how hypy this guy is)
Perhaps we could just slowly integrate it as the roadways become damaged?
[QUOTE=LoneWolf_Recon;44891194]Elaborate how, I know upscaling and economics are a sticky topic for this (Not to mention transistional costs for both the infrastructure and related industries). but the tech is proven (In the works since 2006) and simply needs more tests. Call me overly optimistic, but the tech speaks for itself (no matter how hypy this guy is)
Perhaps we could just slowly integrate it as the roadways become damaged?[/QUOTE]
It'll probably get built in their home town and then never spread because they could only build so much with the $1mil.
There's been lots of reasons for it to not work, like expenses compared to just replacing damaged roads with more asphalt and tarmac, and if a hex breaks then it'll be completely useless and need replacing with yet another pricey piece of road.
[editline]24th May 2014[/editline]
And like someone said, it'll become less effective as dirt builds up over it which isn't a problem with asphalt because who cares if that shit gets dirty it's just road.
Problems I see with this idea:
-Solar panels are extremely toxic to produce
-Light Pollution (greater problem for animals than us, but it also worsens our ability to see the sky)
-Immense E-waste when a panel dies via accident or over time
-Theft
That being said, we've been driving on the same asphalt as people a century ago... This might be the 21st century solution to this.
Solar Panels are extremely toxic to produce, let alone the pollution that would be caused to remove all the asphalt we currently have and replace it.
It looks good in long term, but the short term cost and pollution would probably destroy the environment faster than reaching the end goal.
[QUOTE=Untouch;44890398]I can see this being a massive pain in the ass to replace.
If they get damaged, a cell is worthless.
Also seems like something people would steal.[/QUOTE]
i don't get how this would be a pain in the ass to replace, it's hexagonal modules that can be pulled out and replaced
Thorium roadways sounds more efficient. Having a large section of roadway powered by a small thorium reactor that is underground nearby would be better in the long run.
[QUOTE=seano12;44891466]Thorium roadways sounds more efficient. Having a large section of roadway powered by a small thorium reactor that is underground nearby would be better in the long run.[/QUOTE]
As much as I support LFTRs, keyword: scaling
There are so many problems with these I'm not even sure where to begin. The cost to replace 4 million miles worth of road, in the USA alone, would be astronomical and unworkable. As has been said already, solar panels are extremely toxic to produce, whatever benefit these things offer would be entirely offset by just how dirty their manufacturing process would be.
Beyond that, what would do with the asphalt and concrete you've torn up? What happens if they lose power and you have no road markers? Are they fire retardant, because burning solar panels would create new hazards for first responders. How are they cleaned? What happens if the heating elements malfunction and the road needs to be cleared with a plow? Do you build over-passes and bridges out of these, if so are they structurally sound?
This just sounds more like pie-in-the-sky bullshit. Asphalt works because it's cheap, concrete works because it's cheap. There are far better, more realistic and economically viable solutions to climate change than some sci-fi fantasy.
It's a brilliant idea, and I have no doubt our roads will probably adopt something similar to this some day, simply because harvesting energy directly from the sun is one of the most sensible ways to produce power, and replacing our roads means we're not taking up huge tracts of nature to build giant solar arrays, but the technology isn't quite there yet. What we need are manufacturing processes for solar panels that don't damage the environment like the current ones do, as well as a way to store the energy they produce in case of a power outage (without resorting to the toxic chemicals used in today's batteries). Once those hurdles are dealt with, I could see these easily taking off. It wouldnt happen right away, of course; I'd imagine it'd start with parking lots and driveways in swanky parts of big cities, but over the next few decades, it's not completley unfeasable for these things to completley replace pavement.
I'm sure a hundred, or even fifty years ago, the thought of every home and buisness being connected to a massive, planet spanning information network would have seemed unfeasable; a massive pipe dream, because the technology just wasn't right yet. It's the same case here.
This guy sounds like Soulbrothanumbah3
Disregarding the ridiculous installation, maintenance, and upkeep costs, how long are these supposed to last, and what kind of weight, temperature, and various other tolerances will they have? Will they shatter when enough force is applied?
They talk about things like pressure sensitivity. What happens when you have a landslide and an enormous rock hits the road? With conventional asphalt, you come in with a grader, and pour new stuff in less than a day. Maybe a load of gravel or dirt to fill in a hole. With this, you have a good shot of having the underlying structure damaged, and that's tons of specialized material to bring in and replace.
This stuff strikes me as one of those "In a perfect world" things. In an ideal situation this might not be terrible. It would certainly be expensive. In reality, these are probably ludicrously impractical.
[QUOTE=doomkiwi;44889965]Aren't they gonna get super dirty super fast and therefor decrease effectiveness?[/QUOTE]
I suppose street cleaning is an already existing solution; however, I have no idea whether our current standards in it would be very efficient.
Well, I suppose not needing salt or gravel in the winter would certainly keep the roads a lot cleaner; I got back from LA not too long ago, and I noticed how clean a lot of the roads were simply because they didn't have to spread anything on them in the winter. Otherwise, I guess they could be designed so dirt washes off in the rain, or be hosed off by specialized street sweepers.
As for cost, I see it like this: we're going to be building solar arrays in the future, even though they're shit right now; pathetic efficiency, and terrible for the environment. Once advances make them efficient enough and easy enough to manufacture to make them viable, they're going to be one of the biggest producers of power for the foreseeable future. Since we're going to be making them anyway, instead of taking up tons of space just for solar panels, why not implement them in our roads so we get all of the added benefits from that as well?
[QUOTE=Pythagoras64;44892172]Since we're going to be making them anyway, instead of taking up tons of space just for solar panels, why not implement them in our roads so we get all of the added benefits from that as well?[/QUOTE]
Efficiency. You can't cover the entire surface of the road in panels. A big ass farm can achieve a higher percentage of coverage, and much higher efficiency per unit of covered area. You don't have to worry about the surface dealing with 20 years of massive trucks going 80 over it, layers of dirt and mud, and everything else. Until you get to the point where real estate is THAT valuable, you just throw down a huge and efficient array in the middle of bumfuck nowhere Arizona/Nevada or something and just make cheaper roads that aren't as insanely difficult to maintain.
Hell, by the time real estate becomes that big of an issue, I'd expect to see solar arrays in space, where the intensity is much higher, and just pipe power down with large superconductive cables or something. That's 24/7 power, that doesn't care about the whether conditions, barely cares about the time of year, and has ludicrous scalability.
That video was shit and the narrator sounds like a douche.
That being said, it'll never happen on a large scale. The cost would be insane compared to tarmac or concrete. Like astronomical.
I mean let's put this into perspective. Tarmac highway is around $2 to $10 per sq. foot to lay. That includes labour and prep and everything. It's a bit more for concrete which is what the US primarily uses. At least for the interstates. So you can see how cheap these panels would have to be. Like
Looks neat but I can only really see it being viable inside large towns and cities, where you can quickly send someone out to replace broken tiles compared to roads in the middle of nowhere.
However even if it was only done inside large towns and cities, the costs would still be astronomical.
They have an FAQ where they address some of the questions [url]http://solarroadways.com/faq.shtml[/url]
This threads attitude is why it will never happen. :v:
But how many hundreds of billions of dollars would it cost to replace all the roads with these?
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