Is This Really Do-able?

[Crick]

You see no advantage to using zero additional land area? How many gripes did we have here about the land used by that big solar facility whose name I cannot even recall (early onset Alzheimers).

I admit that with the added goodies the price per unit area on these must be high. Note that the actual prototypes had only a handful of LEDs while the artist's conceptions - changing basketball courts into squash courts - would have required a nearly solid matrix of them. And then there's the pressure sensors, the smarts, the commuunication...

This might be more a product for the relatively well heeled to install over their own driveways and roofs. Carmel, Newport and Boca Raton could put them in.

 

[sameech]

It's a great idea. Of course all the "problems" outlined above have been taken into consideration already.

And the shortage of tellurium will be handled how exactly?

 

[sameech]

Even if this will work, they'll never "let" it work. To much money made off of our current form of energy. Imagine if everybody gets their energy from their driveways? Or their patios, etc? Our city for one, would go broke. Every time they want something new, they increase the taxes on our utilities so they don't have to bring it before the voters. How are they going to tax utilities if its your driveway? Your patio? etc. They already have laws in this state to limit the amount of rainwater you can collect. (again, they want that money).

More or less. we don't have the raw materials to do it with, but I read that for the cost of the last two wars, we could have put solar in every house in America and saved people $160B a year. We can't be having no savings in a consumer driven economy.

 

[jon_berzerk]

Wow, how cool is this? Think this is the wave of the future?

This Futuristic Idea Is Cool, Regardless Of Where You Stand On Climate Change

neat

in the day time it will melt the snow

then as night time approaches the snow water

will turn to a sheet of ice

 

[Crick]

Just like oil, we'll just find more.

 

[skookerasbil]

If somebody wants to pay for a solar driveway for me.......Im all in. Otherwise......meh.

Really.........just another stoopid-ass far left idea like the EV.

 

[Political Junky]

Wow, how cool is this? Think this is the wave of the future?

This Futuristic Idea Is Cool, Regardless Of Where You Stand On Climate Change

neat

in the day time it will melt the snow

then as night time approaches the snow water

will turn to a sheet of ice

Nope, the stored solar energy will melt the snow/ice. You didn't pay attention.

 

[Crick]

And if there wasn't enough energy - if it got too cold - it would be no worse than had the original asphalt been there.

 

[mamooth]

It's just dumb, because it depends on "Soon a miracle will happen!" technology. The required miracle would be a transparent substance which can endure trucks rumbling over it for years and years without breaking or even getting scratched.

Yes, the article claimed it could endure truck traffic. But I'm calling bullshit.

 

[jon_berzerk]

Wow, how cool is this? Think this is the wave of the future?

This Futuristic Idea Is Cool, Regardless Of Where You Stand On Climate Change

neat

in the day time it will melt the snow

then as night time approaches the snow water

will turn to a sheet of ice

Nope, the stored solar energy will melt the snow/ice. You didn't pay attention.

i dont believe it for a second

 

[flacaltenn]

I hpoe this is crowd funded to the tune of billions of dollars. The public believes in miracles and that science and technology is just dragging their feet because exxon told them to.. Its a neccessary but expensive education in materials science and photovoltaics. And the crowd will be better off for their investment. Smaller crowds means less heckling from the peanut gallery and then we can all make btter decisions.

Any material with adequate optical efficiency, would be slippery as glass. I suggest they budget for a team of crack lawyers as well...