Solar Fucking Roadways..

[Sallow]

This is just too amazing.

Wow, This Video PROVES That Solar Roadways Are The Future! My Mind Is Blown! | SF Globe

It's one of those things that are so simple you wonder why it isn't already done.

 

[Avorysuds]

Pretty cool. I'd like to see the costs and how well it works on a small scale.

It's easy to believe something is great when the person telling you about it is selling it to you.

Some of the ideas I feel are pretty stupid, like all the markers being lit up. All it would take is some error, some damage and people fly off the road or run into each other.

 

[Avorysuds]

The major impact of a cheap or "free" clean energy is air travel. Speeding up travel would be a massive next step in, something...

 

[Mr. H.]

This is just too amazing.

Wow, This Video PROVES That Solar Roadways Are The Future! My Mind Is Blown! | SF Globe

It's one of those things that are so simple you wonder why it isn't already done.

As I stated in one of the other numerous threads on this topic... I can not begin to comprehend the amounts of hydrocarbons it would take to make this become reality.

 

[TheOldSchool]

I'd prefer rainbow roads

Please use all the hydro carbons you need

 

[Avorysuds]

Yes, the recourse to make these billions of computers did cross my mind, like one of the first things. Not to mention they make computers out of...... oil.

 

[Sallow]

This is just too amazing.

Wow, This Video PROVES That Solar Roadways Are The Future! My Mind Is Blown! | SF Globe

It's one of those things that are so simple you wonder why it isn't already done.

As I stated in one of the other numerous threads on this topic... I can not begin to comprehend the amounts of hydrocarbons it would take to make this become reality.

No more than they would be to build fields of solar panels.

These things would also be multi-functional. I've actually seen heated side walks in action. They are way cool.

 

[Sallow]

I'd prefer rainbow roads

Please use all the hydro carbons you need

Did you see the LEDs?

 

[Anathema]

As someone who works in the engineering end of a large electric utility, I have serious reservations about this sort of thing. Beyond just the ability for it to replace any significant amount of fossil-fuel generation in areas of the country which do not get massive amounts of sun on a regular basis (ie... New England in the winter), there is an even larger concern.... SAFETY. How does a lineman protect himself from this potential energy source while working on the overhead lines?

 

[sameech]

Wouldn't it make more sense to develop cars that just create more electricity than they consume and offload the extra current onto the grid so that the users could get credit toward their energy bills that would make it more affordable for them to own one of these high-priced electric vehicles?

 

[Anathema]

Wouldn't it make more sense to develop cars that just create more electricity than they consume and offload the extra current onto the grid so that the users could get credit toward their energy bills that would make it more affordable for them to own one of these high-priced electric vehicles?

The electric grid is not like a water bucket you fill up and then just use what's there whenever you want to. Excess current and voltage on the lines can actually be a very serious issue at times. Additionally, there is no way currently, and I don't see the electric companies investing monies in a way to determine exactly how much each car would be adding to the grid, and how to credit that.

 

[Sallow]

As someone who works in the engineering end of a large electric utility, I have serious reservations about this sort of thing. Beyond just the ability for it to replace any significant amount of fossil-fuel generation in areas of the country which do not get massive amounts of sun on a regular basis (ie... New England in the winter), there is an even larger concern.... SAFETY. How does a lineman protect himself from this potential energy source while working on the overhead lines?

I work in data centers and we do alot of cabling. We have raised floors with the the cables underneath them. It's much easier to work with those then the overhead ones. The floors are broken up into panels and you simply have to remove them to get access. If you checked the video, these roads are made by modular panels. Once this is all up and running, it seems it would be much safer, easier and faster to deal with problems like cut lines if they are beneath them. It's also easier to deal with "potholes".

 

[TakeAStepBack]

Yeah, seems cost effective too.

 

[Sallow]

Wouldn't it make more sense to develop cars that just create more electricity than they consume and offload the extra current onto the grid so that the users could get credit toward their energy bills that would make it more affordable for them to own one of these high-priced electric vehicles?

Both make sense.

The additional energy could be used to power cities.

 

[Skull Pilot]

The costs vs the output and longevity.

We can do all kinds of cool shit but if that cool shit isn't practical then it's a waste of money

 

[Sallow]

Yeah, seems cost effective too.

R&D, implementation and installation would be expensive. But the cost savings would be seen over the long term.

 

[Anathema]

I work in data centers and we do alot of cabling. We have raised floors with the the cables underneath them. It's much easier to work with those then the overhead ones. The floors are broken up into panels and you simply have to remove them to get access. If you checked the video, these roads are made by modular panels. Once this is all up and running, it seems it would be much safer, easier and faster to deal with problems like cut lines if they are beneath them. It's also easier to deal with "potholes".

Underground cable, which we use as well in many applications, is more reliable, but when it goes it's much more difficult to repair.

When I talk about safety, I'm referring to the safety of the line-workers who are doing daily repairs, maintenance, and upgrades on the wire, overhead or underground. Probably 90% of the work done in this country is done on ENERGIZED LINES. Those lines have full voltage and amperage running through them while they're being worked on. This puts the workers in serious danger.

The only thing that scares a lineman more than pulling up into a development that is supposedly totally out of power and finding a single house on is pulling up to that same development and finding TWO houses on. The first situation generally means someone has a generator. The second generally means the first person's generator is back-feeding through the transformer and feeding the second house as well. That sort of situation, if not properly noticed and diagnosed GETS WORKERS KILLED!!!!

With that in mind, now imagine that at every pole or manhole along the street, this new roadway generator is feeding into the system. It essentially puts the workers in a position where no cable can ever be considered de-energized, nevermind dead, unless they cut every single one of those feeds off from the cable they're working on. The current solar/wind generators are bad enough. This sort of road system would make the electric system almost inoperable.

 

[sameech]

Wouldn't it make more sense to develop cars that just create more electricity than they consume and offload the extra current onto the grid so that the users could get credit toward their energy bills that would make it more affordable for them to own one of these high-priced electric vehicles?

The electric grid is not like a water bucket you fill up and then just use what's there whenever you want to. Excess current and voltage on the lines can actually be a very serious issue at times. Additionally, there is no way currently, and I don't see the electric companies investing monies in a way to determine exactly how much each car would be adding to the grid, and how to credit that.

Wouldn't be any different than grid-tied solar. Surely if the city can read my meters anytime they want due to smart metering that can theoretically also regulate appliances should I ever buy them, they can devise a system where one can plug in a car that reports its stored voltage and trigger it to release it onto the lines when needed. I don't see that it would be any less problematic or more expensive than solar roads.

 

[Anathema]

Wouldn't be any different than grid-tied solar. Surely if the city can read my meters anytime they want due to smart metering that can theoretically also regulate appliances should I ever buy them, they can devise a system where one can plug in a car that reports its stored voltage and trigger it to release it onto the lines when needed. I don't see that it would be any less problematic or more expensive than solar roads.

I was under the impression you were talking about trying to add that electricity to the grid while the car was in motion. My mistake.

The problem with that sort of system would be the cost to the car owner. Right now utilities require any potential "source" feeding into the line which is over a certain POTENTIAL size to provide disconnecting device (at their own cost) which can range from $100K to $1 Million, depending on the type, size, and particular utility company. At this time those devices are not required for the smaller PV/Wind generators, but that may be changing in the near future. Not to mention the cost to totally re-wire your home to be able to feed out and not just in.

 

[whitehall]

First of all the pipe dream is an admission that there isn't enough room on the freaking planet to install enough solar panels to power more than a token of the energy we need. Some genius figured out that America's roadways would be a non obtrusive way to extend the solar panels but the concept is laughable. Look at the size of the solar panels that they use to power a tiny emergency phone in the middle of nowhere. Does anybody think they can power America's energy needs with a billion of the things? The second issue is security and the fact that we can't even fix the pot holes or maintain the roadways as they exist today.