Video: Solar Freakin Roadways promo video

[MrPickins]

Color me a skeptic, but I'll believe it when I see it in action.

 

[TridenT]

Sounds nice, but it's never happening. Just for starters: They're way too expensive.

 

[phucheneh]

LOL. Someone has no grasp of physics.

Or logic.

Engineering a solar panel to be usable as a road: no purpose. They are looking to streamline things by merging existing infrastructure with other [nonexistent] infrastructure...when it is VASTLY superior to have both things coexist separately.

If solarpanelroad is even a passably interesting idea, then a knifewrech is easily worthy of a dozen Nobel prizes.

A knifewrench is useable for two things...though there are...drawbacks.

OP is more like 'toasterwall.' DON'T USE DUMB WOOD FOR BUILDING YOUR HOUSE. MAKE THE WALLS FROM TOASTERS! THEN YOU CAN HAVE WALLS, AND DELICIOUS TOAST!*

*the toasters won't really work very well and your house will fall down.

 

[MrDudeMan]

Engineering a solar panel to be usable as a road: no purpose.

Forget the solar panel if you can't see any logic in that. Look at the other benefits that having a 'smart' road would offer. It's disingenuous to say some of the things on the following list wouldn't be benefits.

You're right that it's an attempt to mix seemingly unrelated things, but the benefits of a modular, interactive road system are undeniable. Adding the ability to generate power if it's feasible isn't funny - it's awesome. Maybe it won't work, but it's not at all stupid to investigate the possibility. Your reaction to this is really stupid.

 

[MongGrel]

Have enough trouble with infrastructure and old bridges, etc ,etc.

Ain't happening.

Where's my flying car

 

[phucheneh]

Your reaction to this is really stupid.

Your understanding of what roads do is really stupid.

We have trouble keeping slabs of asphalt/concrete/tarmac/ect intact for use as a device with no other purpose but to provide a smooth(ish) permanent(ish) surface to bear the weight of traffic.

But LOL, hey, here's a retarded idea, let's make the road out of Legos. You can do all sorts of cool things with Legos! You can't have thousands of cars drive over them every day, but dude, that's totally secondary to all the neat stuff we can do.

 

[phucheneh]

You know, I apologize.

I have not been harsh enough here.

Go outside, one of you herp derps, and find an intersection where the asphalt ripples.

You know what what's from? The weight of vehicles dragging the pavement forward as they brake. That's the kind of forces we're talking about here. Does someone SERIOUSLY think this dude's little panels are going to cope with the stress of even cars and light trucks, let alone anything heavier?

'But, but, he drove a tractor on them!'

Holy fucking shit, are you full-goddamned-retard?

You know what makes a shitty road? Bricks and cobblestones. This is like a less durable version of that.

'But it could be more durable!'

You know what also makes a terrible road? Fucking iron. It's plenty durable, but riding on it is going to be torture and you won't have any goddamned traction.

We pave roads with what works. This shit...would not work. Ever.

The fact that this guy's grasp of reality is so tenuous, and that he is actually garnering attention for it, makes me want to go outside with a gun and an IQ test and start cleaning fucking house. Sweet fucking christ.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

Yeah guys, let's all I keep doing the same shit we've been doing for the last 80 or so years. Not like we've made any progress in our understanding of the forces involved in motor vehicles interacting with roads, or in our knowledge of composite materials. I'm surprised we even switched to using asphalt and concrete because gravel was fine. Dirt was fine too, let's rip out all the roads and head back to the fucking dark ages because anyone who thinks that they can use fucking science to improve on something that doesn't work very well at the moment is just stupid. We should ban all science because progress is stupid.

Now that I'm done being sarcastic.... Do you really feel that a composite tempered glass is not going to be more durable than bricks/asphalt? When's the last time you saw ice cause a piece of regular glass, let alone this material they are using, crumble into dust? Bricks and asphalt are not durable at all. You also completely ignored the part where they said the surface gives the same traction as asphalt.

 

[phucheneh]

Oh, shit. Yes...yes, you've changed my mind.

Because exchanging the durable grip-tape covering all the roads for fucking glass now makes complete sense; it's not the ramblings of a complete moron at all!

edit: and I saw your 'as much traction as asphalt' comment; I just thought it was best to ignore it, since it's untrue.

Good god, people, go buy a clue. The guy might as well just go ahead and claim that he's a Nigerian prince here to make snazzy Tron-roads for you. Please, please let their be some type of materials engineer among us.

 

[MrDudeMan]

You know, I apologize.

I have not been harsh enough here.

Go outside, one of you herp derps, and find an intersection where the asphalt ripples.

You know what what's from? The weight of vehicles dragging the pavement forward as they brake. That's the kind of forces we're talking about here. Does someone SERIOUSLY think this dude's little panels are going to cope with the stress of even cars and light trucks, let alone anything heavier?

'But, but, he drove a tractor on them!'

Holy fucking shit, are you full-goddamned-retard?

You know what makes a shitty road? Bricks and cobblestones. This is like a less durable version of that.

'But it could be more durable!'

You know what also makes a terrible road? Fucking iron. It's plenty durable, but riding on it is going to be torture and you won't have any goddamned traction.

We pave roads with what works. This shit...would not work. Ever.

The fact that this guy's grasp of reality is so tenuous, and that he is actually garnering attention for it, makes me want to go outside with a gun and an IQ test and start cleaning fucking house. Sweet fucking christ.

You always post with so much anger and often from a viewpoint that makes it obvious how arrogant you are. The problem, however, is that you've stepped way outside of your area (obviously).

I've designed asphalt roads, which probably makes me far more knowledgeable about them than you. Glass works perfectly fine as a road material and this isn't the first time someone has done it. It can't have many imperfections, but that's not hard to do anymore with modern manufacturing techniques. Ignorance is bliss, though, right?

This may not be an achievable concept, but it won't be because of the glass.

 

[MrDudeMan]

Oh, shit. Yes...yes, you've changed my mind.

Because exchanging the durable grip-tape covering all the roads for fucking glass now makes complete sense; it's not the ramblings of a complete moron at all!

edit: and I saw your 'as much traction as asphalt' comment; I just thought it was best to ignore it, since it's untrue.

Good god, people, go buy a clue. The guy might as well just go ahead and claim that he's a Nigerian prince here to make snazzy Tron-roads for you. Please, please let their be some type of materials engineer among us.

This doesn't have to be about the glass. There's nothing wrong with it, but you obviously have a stick up your butt about it. Pretend its something else and then consider the idea. A 'smart' road is a really cool concept. Settle down.

 

[phucheneh]

You always post with so much anger and often from a viewpoint that makes it obvious how arrogant you are. The problem, however, is that you've stepped way outside of your area (obviously).

I've designed asphalt roads, which probably makes me far more knowledgeable about them than you. Glass works perfectly fine as a road material and this isn't the first time someone has done it. It can't have many imperfections, but that's not hard to do anymore with modern manufacturing techniques. Ignorance is bliss, though, right?

This may not be an achievable concept, but it won't be because of the glass.

Find me a glass road, please.

And no, I'm not arrogant at all, actually. That's why I'm absolutely stunned that anyone is doing anything other than pointing and laughing at this. I had thought there were some intelligent people here- more intelligent than me, surely.

But I guess not, because it should only take rubbing two IQ points together to generate the little spark that tells you 'hey, I think it would be cheaper and easier to just...not put the solar panels...underneath the cars...you know, because that's retarded.'

It's hard for me to even make an argument here, because it's like trying to argue with a kid with downs about how '2 + 2' does not equal 'potato.'

Let me simpify:

Solar panels are expensive. Cars are heavy. Semi trucks are much heavier. Solar panels work best when the sun isn't blocked. Cars cover roads. Cars are dirty. Dirt covers roads. Roads get wet. Roads must drain water [but often have standing water anyway]. No transparent surface will give the grip asphalt. Asphalt also cushions. Asphalt is not just like icing on a cake made of the ground. Road beds are quite thick. Ect ect.

Essentially, this would provide NO cost reduction in building the whole 'road' part of the road, AND the solar panels stuck to the top of it would be extravagantly more expensive than a normal solar panel. And less useful for power generation. All these factors add together to make this 'idea' fucking stupid. And if you disagree, I have nothing more to say, other than, you know...how you're fucking stupid.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

Find me a glass road, please.

And no, I'm not arrogant at all, actually. That's why I'm absolutely stunned that anyone is doing anything other than pointing and laughing at this. I had thought there were some intelligent people here- more intelligent than me, surely.

But I guess not, because it should only take rubbing two IQ points together to generate the little spark that tells you 'hey, I think it would be cheaper and easier to just...not put the solar panels...underneath the cars...you know, because that's retarded.'

It's hard for me to even make an argument here, because it's like trying to argue with a kid with downs about how '2 + 2' does not equal 'potato.'

Let me simpify:

Solar panels are expensive. Cars are heavy. Semi trucks are much heavier. Solar panels work best when the sun isn't blocked. Cars cover roads. Cars are dirty. Dirt covers roads. Roads get wet. Roads must drain water [but often have standing water anyway]. No transparent surface will give the grip asphalt. Asphalt also cushions. Asphalt is not just like icing on a cake made of the ground. Road beds are quite thick. Ect ect.

Essentially, this would provide NO cost reduction in building the whole 'road' part of the road, AND the solar panels stuck to the top of it would be extravagantly more expensive than a normal solar panel. And less useful for power generation. All these factors add together to make this 'idea' fucking stupid. And if you disagree, I have nothing more to say, other than, you know...how you're fucking stupid.

You should probably get off your computer because computers weren't possible until someone made one. Since you seem so unwilling to come to terms with the fact that humans are able to so some amazing shit these days you should return to nature and forsake all technology since all the plastics, electronics, and safe food and water you have in your house right now should not be possible.


We are all aware this will be expensive, but it will also provide benefits that FAR outweigh the cost in the long run.

 

[Ns1]

Oh shit lots of epeen being thrown around in this thread.

 

[rh71]

*thread revival*

Just saw the video. And the arguments are pretty entertaining. It's also interesting that this is a duplicate thread of one from 2010. Let's get this shiz in gear.

FAQ for those who haven't seen it: http://solarroadways.com/faq.shtml

Possibilities are very intriguing. They could also open up a can of worms with big brother watching us on the roadways electronically.

 

[njdevilsfan87]

Color me a skeptic, but I'll believe it when I see it in action.

Don't worry, we'll surely get a 20 foot section of solar powered road somewhere in the country within our lifetimes.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

In principle I like the idea, but I have read estimates that it would cost into the hundreds of trillions of dollars to implement it.

 

[SlushySolid]

You always post with so much anger and often from a viewpoint that makes it obvious how arrogant you are. The problem, however, is that you've stepped way outside of your area (obviously).

I've designed asphalt roads, which probably makes me far more knowledgeable about them than you. Glass works perfectly fine as a road material and this isn't the first time someone has done it. It can't have many imperfections, but that's not hard to do anymore with modern manufacturing techniques. Ignorance is bliss, though, right?

This may not be an achievable concept, but it won't be because of the glass.

Ironic.

But in all seriousness, even ignoring the huge economic investment that this would cost, the reliability on it would be terrible. I can think of about 10 different failure modes off the top of my head for it. Asphalt is simple, cheap, and quick to repair. Maybe one day this could be economically feasible, but that day isn't today.

Also, lol at the guy saying that not moving to this "sweet future tech" is equivalent to never advancing to future technology. Don't buy every shiny thing that someone proposes to you, you'll run out of capital too quickly.

All in all: cool concept, but that's about it.

 

[William Gaatjes]

How can those panels generate locally enough electricity during a snow storm ? It will not be a sunny day. And also while being slowly covered by snow, the electricity generation will continue to be reduced even more. That can only work when electricity is provided from another source.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

How can those panels generate locally enough electricity during a snow storm ? It will not be a sunny day. And also while being slowly covered by snow, the electricity generation will continue to be reduced even more. That can only work when electricity is provided from another source.

This has been discussed in this thread. The idea is not that they will generate enough electricity on their own. The idea is that they will be sending energy to the grid when it's sunny, and using power from the grid, as needed, when power is required for lighting or heating. By way of analogy, my dad's house has a robust solar system, and it sells a lot of power to the grid in the sunny season, and buys power when it's cloudy or there is precipitation.

 

[Red Squirrel]

How can those panels generate locally enough electricity during a snow storm ? It will not be a sunny day. And also while being slowly covered by snow, the electricity generation will continue to be reduced even more. That can only work when electricity is provided from another source.

Yeah that's the biggest concern I find. Not to mention in winter roads are typically covered in a 1-2 inch crust of snow anyway which makes up "the road". You never see pavement in winter, it's a mixture of hard packed snow and sand.

Snow plows are not going to be scraping right down to the asphalt each pass. That is unnecessary wear and tear on the blade and the snow surface is a higher quality driving surface as it is very smooth and less hard on cars. In the case of these tiles, it would damage them. I guess they could do a pass with slightly raised blade and rely on the heaters for the rest but electric heat sucks up tons of electricity. Each tile would need to be producing a few kwh to make it worthwhile to run that heater. If you have to rely on the grid it kinda defeats the purpose of them being solar.

Asphalt needs to be replaced though, it would be nice to have roads that don't turn into a war zone in spring. Maybe tiles like these but made out of concrete. Basically interlocking stones.

Though my idea of a smart road is basically a modular concrete conduit system that houses the road on top. Colored concrete is used for the lines and stuff and it all comes as modular pieces. They dig a hole, pack it good, and lay these and connect them together. The road top is, obviously for driving, then the conduit part under it would act as storm drain and a place to run utilities. Power and sewer would be run on one side and communications on the other. Each house would have a conduit going from this to the basement, and utilities would simply be fished. Since the main conduit part is a storm sewer it would have walkways on both sides to service and run utilities while the storm water is at a slightly lower level. If there is a storm surge it would be able to handle being completely filled, and sewer could also overflow into storm system in very worse case scenarios. (better having sewage going in the lake than in people's houses)

The power and utility lines would still have to be rated for underground and be able to withstand being submerged in water. Though these would probably be about as wide as 3 lanes and as deep as 3 lanes, so utilities and walk ways would be at the upper 8 foot mark. Odds of it being completely submerged would be slim. There would be various pieces for various needs. Ex: side roads would be 2 lanes wide and maybe 3 lanes deep. (still need to keep storm and sewer below people's basements)

This would have a high cost though, but in the long run it would be cheaper than digging up and redoing roads all the time. I don't have enough fingers to count all the water main breaks we've had just this month alone. It's even worse in winter.

 

[halik]

Total pipe dream and I'm assuming spam campaign by those people to raise money from idiots w/o any physics background.

You can't make an asphalt road last more than couple years before potholes, what the hell do you think will happen to any translucent surface with sandwiched semi conductors?

PV cells are is like some ~50-100 bucks a square foot. There's literally no amount per square foot to make it not add up to large percentage of gdp to build this (18K square miles or road, do the math).

The premise is totally asinine and I'm guessing it's being pushed by the same autistic spectrum loonies as with the Rossi E-cat nonsense (adlep et. al.). I mean for fuck's sake they're making an argument that you can have the pv cells get charged from the headlights of electric cars that are induction charged from said PV cells. Seems they have succeeded in fleecing reddit morons though.

 

[WelshBloke]

This has been discussed in this thread. The idea is not that they will generate enough electricity on their own. The idea is that they will be sending energy to the grid when it's sunny, and using power from the grid, as needed, when power is required for lighting or heating. By way of analogy, my dad's house has a robust solar system, and it sells a lot of power to the grid in the sunny season, and buys power when it's cloudy or there is precipitation.

Wouldnt it be better to just leave the road as a road and build a solar farm (if you're wanting solar power) in the sunniest parts of the country?

 

[KeithP]

Basically what you have is a completely unfeasible idea that a master of promotion has latched onto because he probably will never actually produce a thing while still making money.

Do a search on the Moller Skycar for a similar business model.

-KeithP

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Wouldnt it be better to just leave the road as a road and build a solar farm (if you're wanting solar power) in the sunniest parts of the country?

Well, theoretically (and I'm not saying I buy it), these should be more durable and more easily repaired than actual roads, and if they were implemented nationally would presumably create more solar energy than all existing solar farms in the US presently, since the surface area would be so much larger. We as a nation are not particularly advanced or prolific in the implementation of solar energy, and in theory these would change that radically for the better. My major concern about them is that I can't see how the cost of implementation would not be absolutely staggering.