Solar Freak'n Panel Roadways!!!! Awesome Indiegogo Project, LETS SUPPORT IT!!

[SolarWindMiningCompany]

Check it out!! This is similar to an Idea I was working on, but they got there first!!

Youtube

Indiegogo Page: Solar Roadways

Collecting donations for the Solar Roadways Project

Donation Address: BTC1KUHaFVg7mBLaSeL6NN9FwA77nEydkSZ3K

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[WEB slicer]

how are you affiliated with these people?

[bluefirecorp]

The idea is quite frankly silly. The roads require a lot of sunlight, which trees, dirt, and tires will wear and block out said light.

Better to just install panels on roofs of housing first before the road surfaces.

[SolarWindMiningCompany]

how are you affiliated with these people?

The idea is quite frankly silly. The roads require a lot of sunlight, which trees, dirt, and tires will wear and block out said light.

Better to just install panels on roofs of housing first before the road surfaces.

Wow, what cynicism...

First to WEB slicer, I have no affiliation with the inventor.

Secondly, bluefirecorp, you apparently have never driven the highways of the Midwestern states. In fact, most of the worlds highways get plenty of sunlight. Furthermore, The Solar Panel Roadways offer far more than just solar energy from an already developed part of the landscape not to mention the fact that regular highways, streets and parking lots absorb a substantial amount of heat (which contributes to global warning.) I should know, I was a canvasser for eight years and the heat from the streets, even in mild weather, could be very uncomfortable.

The only 'silly' thing here, frankly, is shortsightedness from limited vision.

[WEB slicer]

i think it's genius. the sun gives us more energy in one day than the whole world uses in one year. i would invest if they were publicly traded.

[SolarWindMiningCompany]

i think it's genius. the sun gives us more energy in one day than the whole world uses in one year. i would invest if they were publicly traded.

I'm investing for the sake of mans future, but being able to earn otherwise would be a nice perk.

[bluefirecorp]

how are you affiliated with these people?

The idea is quite frankly silly. The roads require a lot of sunlight, which trees, dirt, and tires will wear and block out said light.

Better to just install panels on roofs of housing first before the road surfaces.

Wow, what cynicism...

First to WEB slicer, I have no affiliation with the inventor.

Secondly, bluefirecorp, you apparently have never driven the highways of the Midwestern states. In fact, most of the worlds highways get plenty of sunlight. Furthermore, The Solar Panel Roadways offer far more than just solar energy from an already developed part of the landscape not to mention the fact that regular highways, streets and parking lots absorb a substantial amount of heat (which contributes to global warning.) I should know, I was a canvasser for eight years and the heat from the streets, even in mild weather, could be very uncomfortable.

The only 'silly' thing here, frankly, is shortsightedness from limited vision.

Actually, I have driven through almost all the states (I've yet to drive through the southwest).

The fact is, tires have rubber, right? Rubber comes off of tires. Rubber blocks light from sun. Did I spell it out enough for you?

In a perfect world with unlimited resources -- sure, these roads would be feasible. But in this reality, it's much more efficient, cost effective, and wise to put solar panels on roofs, not roads.

Actually, here's a few great lines from people who have much, much more experience than you or me on this matter:

They are costly. Not only do you have to remove existing roads but you need to dig down and across to ensure power cables, converters etc. fit.
As you strengthen the glass you reduce the clarity and thus the efficiency of the solar cell.
A damaged solar cell costs much more to replace then tarmac and damage is not just from traffic. The cells break from wear and tear, graffiti, theft and/or even dust can effect your energy generation.
There was work into including liquid batteries underneath the cells to store electricity. Without that your nightly lightning is going to be hard when you generate no electricity at night.
Finally efficiency. Dollar per watt its not worth the investment. You'd be better of building quality cells in lower numbers and maintaining them better plus upgrading is easy.
Ten years from now you put these solar cells in the ground and by the time you're done we'll have cells twice as efficient and a quarter the size.


The fact is roads are dirty, very dirty, solar panels need lots of light, traffic + rubber + random crap + exhaust fumes all sit between the panels and the sun decreasing the amount of light they are receiving.
On top of that these things consume a pretty sizeable chunk of power, being entirely re-programmable (CPU power) + powering multi-coloured LED's + heating the road to melt snow!? + shadows from buildings, bridges, trees etc will lower their efficiency, especially in winter.

[SgtSpike]

This is a terrible idea.  Better to just put that money towards above-ground solar panels.

[Richard213]

well this is awesome idea in my opinion
i already heard about solar panel in sky, galaxy but never heard this great idea 

[patt0]

Just saw the video on facebook, and then I find it here, it's getting attention xD
(it looks great, but as usually not likely to happen :/ )

[Epiphany]

They'll be able to claim a lot of SolarCoins too with the energy produced, even more incentive.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Perhaps, DogeCoin can step up to the plate to make sure they reach their goal (44% shy of the $1M seeking), whereupon some excess power can be used to mine cryptocurrencies.

Then, we'll see road signs like...



Mine-A-Highway

Next 70K Hex Blocks

...Coin

(Motto/Slogan here)

[DooMAD]

Looking at their FAQ page, they did some limited testing for rubber scuffs and skid marks:

How are you going to handle skid marks from tires? Won't that block your sunlight?

We weren't able to officially test for that during our Phase II funding from the FHWA as it wasn't in the budget. However, we wondered about that too, so we conducted an experiment. It's not very scientific, but here is what we did:

We took a rubber soled shoe and scuffed a section of concrete and a section of our glass. We used a bike tire to create a skid mark on both the concrete and the glass.

The rubber on the glass came off with the simple wipe of a finger: it didn't stick well to the glass. That wasn't the case with the porous concrete: we may now have permanent skip marks there!

We think that the simple act of the next tire rolling over a skid mark on the glass will be enough to loosen the material, which will then blow off or be removed the next time it rains. We are anxious to do some testing to be sure.

So it may not be a problem, but they'll test it to find out and can always come up with a solution if it does become an issue.

[SolarWindMiningCompany]

Looking at their FAQ page, they did some limited testing for rubber scuffs and skid marks:

How are you going to handle skid marks from tires? Won't that block your sunlight?

We weren't able to officially test for that during our Phase II funding from the FHWA as it wasn't in the budget. However, we wondered about that too, so we conducted an experiment. It's not very scientific, but here is what we did:

We took a rubber soled shoe and scuffed a section of concrete and a section of our glass. We used a bike tire to create a skid mark on both the concrete and the glass.

The rubber on the glass came off with the simple wipe of a finger: it didn't stick well to the glass. That wasn't the case with the porous concrete: we may now have permanent skip marks there!

We think that the simple act of the next tire rolling over a skid mark on the glass will be enough to loosen the material, which will then blow off or be removed the next time it rains. We are anxious to do some testing to be sure.

So it may not be a problem, but they'll test it to find out and can always come up with a solution if it does become an issue.

Thanks DooMAD,

bluefirecorp and SgtSpike haven't read their FAQ's. Those objections are covered and reasonably so. Before anyone detracts from the idea, maybe they should do more research. Read their FAQ's here and Watch their videos, Youtube search and here a good video summarizing the whole concept. GE's Focus Forward Films.

[u9y42]

Wow, they are currently at $1,256,771 raised, out of the $1,000,000 they requested, and there's still 6 more days to go. Not bad.

i think it's genius. the sun gives us more energy in one day than the whole world uses in one year. i would invest if they were publicly traded.

I'm investing for the sake of mans future, but being able to earn otherwise would be a nice perk.

I read an article today about that; it goes into how other campaigners have in the past been bought off by large companies, leaving the initial investors with little or nothing to show for their support, and how that could be avoided: http://falkvinge.net/2014/05/26/solar-roadways-please-learn-from-oculus-mistake-and-become-a-co-op/.

[bluefirecorp]

Looking at their FAQ page, they did some limited testing for rubber scuffs and skid marks:

How are you going to handle skid marks from tires? Won't that block your sunlight?

We weren't able to officially test for that during our Phase II funding from the FHWA as it wasn't in the budget. However, we wondered about that too, so we conducted an experiment. It's not very scientific, but here is what we did:

We took a rubber soled shoe and scuffed a section of concrete and a section of our glass. We used a bike tire to create a skid mark on both the concrete and the glass.

The rubber on the glass came off with the simple wipe of a finger: it didn't stick well to the glass. That wasn't the case with the porous concrete: we may now have permanent skip marks there!

We think that the simple act of the next tire rolling over a skid mark on the glass will be enough to loosen the material, which will then blow off or be removed the next time it rains. We are anxious to do some testing to be sure.

So it may not be a problem, but they'll test it to find out and can always come up with a solution if it does become an issue.

Thanks DooMAD,

bluefirecorp and SgtSpike haven't read their FAQ's. Those objections are covered and reasonably so. Before anyone detracts from the idea, maybe they should do more research. Read their FAQ's here and Watch their videos, Youtube search and here a good video summarizing the whole concept. GE's Focus Forward Films.

The test wasn't even remotely close to scientific. That test is like pointing a box fan at a house and saying it's tornado proof cause it didn't fall down.

A single bike skid mark, and sneaker wear onto the glass. If you've ever done that on an actual smooth surface, you could do the same thing (wipe off the sneaker / bike mark with water). Try it with a tire mark, see how long it takes.

Unless it's a hurricane, I don't see that helping.

[u9y42]

The test wasn't even remotely close to scientific. That test is like pointing a box fan at a house and saying it's tornado proof cause it didn't fall down.

A single bike skid mark, and sneaker wear onto the glass. If you've ever done that on an actual smooth surface, you could do the same thing (wipe off the sneaker / bike mark with water). Try it with a tire mark, see how long it takes.

Unless it's a hurricane, I don't see that helping.

Regardless, they now have the money to go through with more rigorous tests like they planned, and potentially even start the project on a small scale. I guess we'll find out soon enough how well this will work. 

[bluefirecorp]

The test wasn't even remotely close to scientific. That test is like pointing a box fan at a house and saying it's tornado proof cause it didn't fall down.

A single bike skid mark, and sneaker wear onto the glass. If you've ever done that on an actual smooth surface, you could do the same thing (wipe off the sneaker / bike mark with water). Try it with a tire mark, see how long it takes.

Unless it's a hurricane, I don't see that helping.

Regardless, they now have the money to go through with more rigorous tests like they planned, and potentially even start the project on a small scale. I guess we'll find out soon enough how well this will work. 

The thing is, that $1MM could have went towards above solar panels on many, many roofs for people. Producing a LOT more electricity at a faction of the price.

[Cryptopher]

I watched the Solar Freaking Roadways video yesterday after George Takei shared it on his Facebook page.

It's an impressive concept with a whole range of uses. Could they not start building houses with these panels instead of tiles? Added bonus is having the ability to program the lights for Christmas time

[stompix]

Thanks DooMAD,

bluefirecorp and SgtSpike haven't read their FAQ's. Those objections are covered and reasonably so. Before anyone detracts from the idea, maybe they should do more research. Read their FAQ's here and Watch their videos, Youtube search and here a good video summarizing the whole concept. GE's Focus Forward Films.

I've done my homework and two things are not mentioned there:

How much will your panels cost?

We are not yet able to give numbers on cost. We are still in the midst of our Phase II contract with the Federal Highway Administration and we'll be analyzing our prototype costs near the end of our contract which ends in July, 2014. Afterward, we'll be able to do a production-style cost analysis

.

Secondary , they have talked about how a car can stop normally or steer on these things but what about tire usage?

In the end it might be that we pay lots of taxes on costly energy and we also have a few extra things to change more often due to these innovations.