Very OT - Solar Freaking Roadways
I realize that this video is almost a year old, but it was just brought to my attention, and I want to know what the great minds of MGOBLOG think. Is this a fantasy? Am I excited for nothing? Solar Freaking Roadways?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlTA3rnpgzU
EDIT: Alright, so I can't embed too good.
Technology. We haz it!
As someone who just started working in the solar industry, this makes me very happy.
Having a background in engineering, I love technology, but the first question I ask is what is the cost per mile to build a roadway and cost per KW of electricity that is generated. Lots of things going on in those panels, none of which is inexpensive, even on a large scale.
The other not so minor problem that will probably be solved in the not too distant future is just how do you store all the solar power you generate? Batteries to do this are coming, but they aren't here yet.
A little clarification to my comment - I don't think that solar roads in particular would make much sense, but I am just excited about the fact that people are even thinking about and talking about using solar different ways, even if it may not be feasable. It is definitely a growing market though, which excites me.
It is definitely growing but unless we find a way to store solar power inexpensively, it can only go so far or require significant backup power in the even of extended clouds or during winter months with short days.
Deviating a bit, here's an alternative that Bill Gates has put his money behind and which has huge potential in the future in the form of a travelling wave reactor.
Looks to me like just another way advertisers are going to bombard you with buying chicken/coffee/toilet paper/diamond ring/cheap flights/etc. However, that may be the cynic in me coming out. I just want the ability to keep the roads >33F so no more ice, everything else would be gravy
I'm sick of dealing with ice and snow on my driveway. We need a new one at some point and I will seriously consider a heated driveway.
Heated tiles in the bathroom are where its at.
Meh who needs solar and heated roads. Don't bother wasting the money.
Climate change will do that for all of us in about 40 years for free.
:)
/s (I know it's not happening that quickly)
Anything that makes this world like the Grid in Tron, I'm all for it.
I like Ohio State. Is that okay?
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Okay. Just wondering. Calm down.
Hai.
Hi Mabel,
How are you today?
A nice pipe dream. If I ever write a sci-fi novel I will make sure to include this idea.
Wouldn't work in Michigan, where you see the sun for 3 months a year.
These guys would make PT Barnum proud.
Totally not practical, let alone possible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocV-RnVQdcs
There are many reasons solar roadways are a terrible idea. Basically, the math never works out--even in ideal situations, you will be pouring in tons of money and getting nearly nothing out. A brief example: cars necessarily block sunlight from the panels, so traffic pretty much ruins the whole idea.
Also, motorcycle helmets are pointless.
Why install a solar-roadway parking lot, though? Why not just cover a parking lot with carports that have solar cells on top? It would be cheaper to install, cheaper to maintain, it wouldn't reduce the generaion capacity if cars actually use the lot, and it wouldn't be susceptible to the freeze-thaw cycle. It makes literally no sense to install solar panels in the parking lot roadway itself.
A solar road is one of the most utterly pointless ideas ever hatched. The idea has been thoroughly fisked in a couple articles that are floating around out there.
Oh I'm not saying it's the best idea out there. And I agree that before any of this happens we'd need to get to the point where all existing buildings had solar panels on them because that's accomplishes the same goal but with a structure already there (that, in most cases, is never walked or driven on).
But there are other walk/roadways that cannot be covered, and this sort of technology, though perhaps not this exact technology, would be a good fit.
My point is that putting the solar panels in the road itself makes no sense. Putting them above the road, I can see. There are also several other problems.
I like the idea of heated roads, but to think that we can power them only off of local solar cells just doesn't make sense--the math doesn't add up.
I get where you're coming frim - my viewpoint on this is similar to other major technology: flying, going into space or solar panels themselves. The idea is good, but the science isn't quite there yet to make is feasible. As electricity becomes more expensive and solar panel construction becomes less expensive, more ideas like this will be able to come to fruition. Clearly roadways won't be the first step, but it could be there eventually.
Truthfully, the idea isn't even good. If the technology for solar roadways becomes cheaper, it's safe to assume regular solar cells are also becoming cheaper. A solar roadway cell will always be more expensive than an ordinary one because of the engineering required to make it durable enough to handle traffic, whether it's semi trucks or just bicycles. So you have both a more expensive road (which requires total replacement instead of just patching any time it needs repair) and a more expensive solar cell.
Solar roads are basically the wrong answer to a question nobody asked. Opportunity costs make them a really horrible, wasteful idea.
I'm in.
This is niche at best but none in the solar industry have managed this level of viral success.
The real story on solar is that it is now 80% less expensive than five years ago, the panels last essentially forever, and that the industry is in the process of explosive growth on based on economics alone.
It has real enemies, powerful enemies (coal, utilities, gas and oil to a lesser extent), that are now ratcheting up anti-solar propaganda; at these prices they have reason to be afraid.
Cheap solar power can improve your property, fix your cost of energy, and release you from the grip of monopoly. It is fundamentally American and enjoys wide cross-demographic support. Just like every big-ticket product out there, the decision point for solar is not about the price, but the monthly payment. If you can pay off your own energy investment for the same or less per month than what you pay the utility, why wouldn't you?
Solar's growth is now intimately tied to the availabilty of good financing and government's (state government is where the battles are) courage to represent the best interests of the people as opposed to the powerful status quo while making rate design decisions at Public Utility Hearings.
Solar paneled or heated driveways/sidewalks to melt the snow. Only problem is what to do if the snow just melts. Wouldn't it turn to ice eventually? You'd need a way for the melted snow to evaporate quickly.
......
If the snow melts from a heated driveway, how the hell can it turn to ice on said heated driveway?
When the snow melts, it will turn over to ice if it's still below freezing. So you'll need something that will stay heated long enough for it to evaporate or run off somewhere else. So if you have a solar powered option, you might run out of juice before that water is taken care of. And if you have an eletricity-powered option, you will have a sky high electric bill that would make you wish you would've just hired some kids to shovel your driveway.
People with heated driveways (hopefully me one day) know what comes with it - high electricity bills. But, you would only need the heated part when it's snowing, so I cannot imagine the bills being high all winter long, unless you live in a place were it snows a ton in the winter.
It snows a lot in Detroit, but I wouldn't need to use it every time it snowed. But when it snowed on SB Sunday, I would have definitely flipped the switch.
In the meantime, I'll just need to keep using my homemade blowtorch + heated shovel.
Unless there is a way to slope the driveway to each side, it seems like you'd make a big issue for the street where the water would collect.
A lot of the streets in my neighborhood are on an incline, so during a good storm the water will pool in some of the intersections where multiple streets come together. That's nature. Not much you can do about that except add more storm drains and hope that everyone rakes their leaves so they don't get blocked.
I'm not longer a troll. I am now going to contribute to this blog in a postive way despite my never ending love for Ohio State.
I know you from the once great ESPN message boards that were ended a few years back.
Will be banned by the end of the day
I see that his account was created 4/15/2015, which is today. But since he was trolling earlier this week, this must be a new account.
I usually find trolls amusing, but I don't really see the point of just saying "Hi, I'm a troll and I'm here to troll." Whatever. I guess he'll get banned again and then go over to 11W to boast about how he humiliated us and made us cry.
loser
I negged you and then posted this to get my point back.
It's a trolling motor. I get it.
This again?