Solar Roadways...

[Wilikon]

"Solar panels that you can drive, park, and walk on. They melt snow and... cut greenhouse gases by 75-percent?!!!"


https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/solar-roadways#home

[bryant.coleman]

Solar panels are extremely expensive and requires frequent maintenance. Compared to other forms of energy, solar power is many times more expensive, and there for unsuitable for the roads. Unless these demerits can be solved, this project will not succeed.

[Littleshop]

Solar panels are extremely expensive and requires frequent maintenance. Compared to other forms of energy, solar power is many times more expensive, and there for unsuitable for the roads. Unless these demerits can be solved, this project will not succeed.

It is unsuitable for roads but it is for some locations and purposes pretty comparable.   Also as it can be deployed for a homeowner they now have control of the production of their own energy.  Not being reliant on others for power can be worth extra cost for some.   Solar still works as tax free income in most locations. 

[altseeker]

The technology and innovation is great only if the price of expensive solar panel is indeed dramatically reduced in the future.

[bryant.coleman]

It is unsuitable for roads but it is for some locations and purposes pretty comparable.   Also as it can be deployed for a homeowner they now have control of the production of their own energy.  Not being reliant on others for power can be worth extra cost for some.   Solar still works as tax free income in most locations. 

Yes... if individual house owners want to get self sufficient on electricity, then installing solar panels will be a good idea. Especially in remote and inaccessible areas, where other forms of electricity are not readily available.

[beetcoin]

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.

[zackclark70]

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

[vokain]

xpost

I can't stand it. On facebook all my friends are sharing this stupid project and saying they'll buy stock.

it's not economically feasible

herd mentality and the erosion of critical thinking in America at its finest

edit: http://www.equities.com/editors-desk/stocks/technology/why-the-solar-roadways-project-on-indiegogo-is-actually-really-silly

[bryant.coleman]

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.

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.

[KonstantinosM]

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.

[bryant.coleman]

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.

[Canis Lupus]

Wow! Would be amazing if this happens.

[beetcoin]

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.

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.

[KonstantinosM]

Wow! Would be amazing if this happens.

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.

[beetcoin]

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.

[Ron~Popeil]

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.

[bryant.coleman]

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.

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.

[commandrix]

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.

[jambola2]

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

[ShibaWow]

Solar panels are extremely expensive and requires frequent maintenance. Compared to other forms of energy, solar power is many times more expensive, and there for unsuitable for the roads. Unless these demerits can be solved, this project will not succeed.

what is your choice for alternative energy?

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.

+ 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..