The Flat Earth Society
Other Discussion Boards => Technology & Information => Topic started by: Lord Dave on April 04, 2014, 01:43:31 AM
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Solar Roads (http://Www.bonnercountydailybee.com/news/local/article_604a09ac-baf0-11e3-94d2-0019bb2963f4.html)
Basically solar panels for roads. So far: awesome.
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Neat idea but looks really, really expensive.
Also the front page image is awful, where did you even find this site?
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Neat idea but looks really, really expensive.
Also the front page image is awful, where did you even find this site?
The Facebook page of solar roadways (the people in the pic). They linked it.
As for expense, yeah. But at the same you have a quick ROI with no plowing for winter and electrical production.
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The Facebook page of solar roadways (the people in the pic). They linked it.
As for expense, yeah. But at the same you have a quick ROI with no plowing for winter and electrical production.
What is the overall purpose other than looking neat, though? I understand they produce electricity, but they can do that without putting them under cars, where they will produce less and less electricity as tar, rubber and oil build up on their surface. Why not sink your money into a nice big solar farm? Roads with asphalt and tar are not necessarily great for the environment, but neither is slapping down roads made of solar panels.
If they can mass produce these, why not just use them as normal high endurance solar panels? Even with the heating elements and LEDs, I'm not understanding the end result here, you could make both of those things cheaper than solar panels and just outsource the electricity to larger, cheaper solar panels elsewhere.
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The Facebook page of solar roadways (the people in the pic). They linked it.
As for expense, yeah. But at the same you have a quick ROI with no plowing for winter and electrical production.
What is the overall purpose other than looking neat, though? I understand they produce electricity, but they can do that without putting them under cars, where they will produce less and less electricity as tar, rubber and oil build up on their surface. Why not sink your money into a nice big solar farm? Roads with asphalt and tar are not necessarily great for the environment, but neither is slapping down roads made of solar panels.
If they can mass produce these, why not just use them as normal high endurance solar panels? Even with the heating elements and LEDs, I'm not understanding the end result here, you could make both of those things cheaper than solar panels and just outsource the electricity to larger, cheaper solar panels elsewhere.
I asked about the oil, tar, and rubber buildup. I'll let you know what/if they respond.
As for electricity: yes larger panels would be cheaper to buy but usually by a private business and requiring several square miles of land.
Solar panels on homes is a great idea but it hasn't become mainstream yet, mostly due to the price of a solar system.
So why would roads be better than a plant?
First off, roads are owned by federal, state, or local towns depending on the type of road. So rather than one private company owning a solar plant, its owned by a local town.
With a private plant, the land has to be purchased, zoned, and analyzed by the DEC for environmental impact. Roads don't have such a problem (except new ones) as they are already allocated space.
And because its used space, owned by a local government, the power generated can be used for any number of purposes. The largest I see is incentive.
Every town and city wants people and businesses to move in. If you can offer them a percentage of the generated power, you'll have the advantage over other locations and the upkeep will be minimal. Its not like a tax break or subsidy where you have to budget it in every year. You simply take the energy being generated and send it to the various businesses and homes.
This way you don't have to rely on land you may not he able to afford, don't have to worry about ruining your landscape (some people are very touchy about that) and its controlled by the local, state, or federal government depending on what kind of road it is.
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Not a bad idea.
Solar farms tend to be a bit ugly. If you put them in a road I guess you get over that problem.
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I asked about the oil, tar, and rubber buildup. I'll let you know what/if they respond.
As for electricity: yes larger panels would be cheaper to buy but usually by a private business and requiring several square miles of land.
Solar panels on homes is a great idea but it hasn't become mainstream yet, mostly due to the price of a solar system.
So why would roads be better than a plant?
First off, roads are owned by federal, state, or local towns depending on the type of road. So rather than one private company owning a solar plant, its owned by a local town.
With a private plant, the land has to be purchased, zoned, and analyzed by the DEC for environmental impact. Roads don't have such a problem (except new ones) as they are already allocated space.
And because its used space, owned by a local government, the power generated can be used for any number of purposes. The largest I see is incentive.
Every town and city wants people and businesses to move in. If you can offer them a percentage of the generated power, you'll have the advantage over other locations and the upkeep will be minimal. Its not like a tax break or subsidy where you have to budget it in every year. You simply take the energy being generated and send it to the various businesses and homes.
This way you don't have to rely on land you may not he able to afford, don't have to worry about ruining your landscape (some people are very touchy about that) and its controlled by the local, state, or federal government depending on what kind of road it is.
I'll definitely be watching as it progresses.
Not a bad idea.
Solar farms tend to be a bit ugly. If you put them in a road I guess you get over that problem.
Solar farms are straight sci-fi cool looking and I won't have you saying otherwise. Especially the ones that use an array of mirrors instead of solar panels.
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They responded. Basically they haven't tested it yet so they don't know. But possibly some kind of street cleaner if it becomes a problem.
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I remember looking at something like this before. The costs were absurdly high for a road, the only way it makes sense is if it is bought as a power station and treated as such.
To be honest, I think something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZyJ5fZzgWw
may be a better bet for using the roads for power.
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I remember looking at something like this before. The costs were absurdly high for a road, the only way it makes sense is if it is bought as a power station and treated as such.
To be honest, I think something like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZyJ5fZzgWw
may be a better bet for using the roads for power.
I disagree. That system just steals energy from the car, which forces the car to work harder and expend more fuel.
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Apply it wherever you typically have rumble strips.
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These will be so vandalised.
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These will be so vandalised.
Just like normal streets are vandalized?