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Offline rooster

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Re: Solar Roadways
« Reply #100 on: May 28, 2014, 10:55:44 PM »
The ride wouldn't even be bumpy.

That's another point. How will they cope with camber, and general "undulations"?
Have you seen a picture of it? The texture is small and close together, you can smoothly ride a bike on it.

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Offline markjo

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Re: Solar Roadways
« Reply #101 on: May 29, 2014, 02:11:05 AM »
The ride wouldn't even be bumpy.

That's another point. How will they cope with camber, and general "undulations"?

Exactly.  The earth is not flat and neither are roads.  Hexagonal patterns tend to not cope well with anything but a nearly perfectly flat surface, especially ones as big as these solar pavers. 

Also, there is the small matter of the base that these solar pavers will be set on.  How will it handle things like frost heave and the general thermal expansion/contraction cycles that inevitably lead to potholes?
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Offline Rushy

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Re: Solar Roadways
« Reply #102 on: May 29, 2014, 04:42:25 AM »
While curved and sloped roads are an issue with the panels, they could easily solve thermal expansion and compression the same way bridges solve it (expansion joints).

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Offline rooster

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Re: Solar Roadways
« Reply #103 on: May 29, 2014, 01:34:15 PM »
Oh, I see what you're saying. Yeah, I wonder how they will get around that one. Maybe they'll use smaller sizes to cope with it? No idea.

Re: Solar Roadways
« Reply #104 on: May 29, 2014, 02:07:09 PM »
The only slope issue I can see being a problem is windy mountain roads.  This could be solved with smaller panels as rooster pointed out.  I'm curious if that question has come up in their meetings yet.

Re: Solar Roadways
« Reply #105 on: May 29, 2014, 04:38:24 PM »
The only slope issue I can see being a problem is windy mountain roads.  This could be solved with smaller panels as rooster pointed out.  I'm curious if that question has come up in their meetings yet.

I think the solution is to use them only on flat, straight stretches of road, in climates and latitudes where the sunlight is most plentiful, where they will be ideally suited. I don't think they mean to replace all roads with solar ones.
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Re: Solar Roadways
« Reply #106 on: May 29, 2014, 05:02:04 PM »
I think you'd potentially be missing out on one of the major upsides of this technology if you did this, the defrosting.  Northern latitudes and mountains terrain are particularly susceptible to snow and ice accumulation and leads to list business during the winter.  This would help keep the roads clear of snow and ice and would probably keep businesses and across open 90% of the time.

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Offline Rushy

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Re: Solar Roadways
« Reply #107 on: May 29, 2014, 05:18:32 PM »
I think you'd potentially be missing out on one of the major upsides of this technology if you did this, the defrosting.  Northern latitudes and mountains terrain are particularly susceptible to snow and ice accumulation and leads to list business during the winter.  This would help keep the roads clear of snow and ice and would probably keep businesses and across open 90% of the time.

The problem with this is energy usage. While it sounds great, the amount of energy necessary to heat the panels enough to melt snow is tremendous. In winter months the panels would burn more energy than they create.

Re: Solar Roadways
« Reply #108 on: May 29, 2014, 06:00:48 PM »
I think you'd potentially be missing out on one of the major upsides of this technology if you did this, the defrosting.  Northern latitudes and mountains terrain are particularly susceptible to snow and ice accumulation and leads to list business during the winter.  This would help keep the roads clear of snow and ice and would probably keep businesses and across open 90% of the time.

The problem with this is energy usage. While it sounds great, the amount of energy necessary to heat the panels enough to melt snow is tremendous. In winter months the panels would burn more energy than they create.

I suppose as long as the net effect is a positive energy flow, or at least a net decrease to the cost of keeping streets clear, then it would be worth it.
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Offline rooster

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Re: Solar Roadways
« Reply #109 on: May 29, 2014, 06:11:25 PM »
In winter months the panels would burn more energy than they create.
Only at night or on overcast days. They're still experimenting with temperatures and they wouldn't have to be heated all the time.

Re: Solar Roadways
« Reply #110 on: May 29, 2014, 10:17:26 PM »
The only slope issue I can see being a problem is windy mountain roads.

Camber. Or cant as wikipedia seems to want to call it:



You gotta encourage the rain to run off. The Romans figured it out first I think.

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Offline rooster

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Re: Solar Roadways
« Reply #111 on: May 29, 2014, 10:30:41 PM »
You gotta encourage the rain to run off.
They have a pretty awesome drainage system shown in the video.

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Offline markjo

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Re: Solar Roadways
« Reply #112 on: May 29, 2014, 10:45:24 PM »
The only slope issue I can see being a problem is windy mountain roads.
???  Do you think that city streets are all straight and level?  Lots of cities are built on and around hills and other undulating terrains.
« Last Edit: May 29, 2014, 10:46:59 PM by markjo »
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Science is what happens when preconception meets verification.

Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge. -- Charles Darwin

If you can't demonstrate it, then you shouldn't believe it.

Re: Solar Roadways
« Reply #113 on: May 29, 2014, 10:48:52 PM »
You gotta encourage the rain to run off.
They have a pretty awesome drainage system shown in the video.

The channels on the left and right? Its good but you've gotta get the water in there. So you need camber. You don't want standing water on a road.

Re: Solar Roadways
« Reply #114 on: May 29, 2014, 10:50:40 PM »
The only slope issue I can see being a problem is windy mountain roads.
???  Do you think that city streets are all straight and level?  Lots of cities are built on and around hills and other undulating terrains.
You can do better than that markjo.  Do these roads consist of sharp turns and steep inclines and declines?

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Offline Lord Dave

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Re: Solar Roadways
« Reply #115 on: May 29, 2014, 10:53:23 PM »
I think you'd potentially be missing out on one of the major upsides of this technology if you did this, the defrosting.  Northern latitudes and mountains terrain are particularly susceptible to snow and ice accumulation and leads to list business during the winter.  This would help keep the roads clear of snow and ice and would probably keep businesses and across open 90% of the time.

The problem with this is energy usage. While it sounds great, the amount of energy necessary to heat the panels enough to melt snow is tremendous. In winter months the panels would burn more energy than they create.
How much is required?
It doesn't have to get to any great temperature, just enough to keep snow from collecting.
If you are going to DebOOonK an expert then you have to at least provide a source with credentials of equal or greater relevance. Even then, it merely shows that some experts disagree with each other.

Re: Solar Roadways
« Reply #116 on: May 29, 2014, 10:58:26 PM »
You can do better than that markjo.  Do these roads consist of sharp turns and steep inclines and declines?

There's probably a good reason why roads aren't tiled already.

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Offline Lord Dave

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Re: Solar Roadways
« Reply #117 on: May 29, 2014, 11:05:06 PM »
The only slope issue I can see being a problem is windy mountain roads.
???  Do you think that city streets are all straight and level?  Lots of cities are built on and around hills and other undulating terrains.
You can do better than that markjo.  Do these roads consist of sharp turns and steep inclines and declines?
If you are going to DebOOonK an expert then you have to at least provide a source with credentials of equal or greater relevance. Even then, it merely shows that some experts disagree with each other.

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Offline rooster

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Re: Solar Roadways
« Reply #118 on: May 29, 2014, 11:25:30 PM »
You gotta encourage the rain to run off.
They have a pretty awesome drainage system shown in the video.

The channels on the left and right? Its good but you've gotta get the water in there. So you need camber. You don't want standing water on a road.
It probably trickles down into little channels that feed into the large one. I'm sure they wouldn't go through the motion of making a cement channel without a way of directing water to said channel.

Re: Solar Roadways
« Reply #119 on: May 29, 2014, 11:27:38 PM »
Hmm. You'd hope so.