Solar Friggin Roadways!!

[SoulBiter]

www.solarroadways.com/intro.shtml

Suppose we made a section of road out of this material and housed solar cells to collect energy, which could pay for the cost of the panel, thereby creating a road that would pay for itself over time. What if we added LEDs to "paint" the road lines from beneath, lighting up the road for safer night time driving? What if we added a heating element in the surface (like the defrosting wire in the rear window of our cars) to prevent snow/ice accumulation in northern climates? The ideas and possibilities just continued to roll in and the Solar Roadway project was born.

[Damelon]

Interesting, more for the heating element than for the LEDs "painting" the road.

The heating element might work, if the road collects enough energy during the winter shortened day to warm the road.

The LED's look like an expensive solution to a nonexistent problem: If it's dark enough to see the LED, it's dark enough to use the car's headlights. The headlights would drown out the road marker. Plus if the LED goes out, it has to be reinstalled. All that has to be done now is put another coat of fluorescent paint.

If it's viable, I could see it being used first in parking lots. It's collecting energy from a large space and could provide considerable energy savings for an office building.

[Menolly]

My understanding is that each panel is self contained. You remove one, and replace it with another. Instant repair. Then repair the one and insert it elsewhere, since they can be programed in any configuration. The repair tunnels are underneath the roads, so I assume lane closures for repairs are not an issue.

[rdhopeca]

I am convinced and have donated. There is literally no negative to this that I can think of.

[SoulBiter]

Agreed! If the country could get behind something like this, we could finally put energy dependance behind us.... Imagine the jobs being created if we started this in all 50 states....

[Cozarkian]

I am convinced and have donated. There is literally no negative to this that I can think of.

How about the opportunity cost? Every dime spent on making solar roadways is a dime not spent on

1) improving efficiency of existing solar panels
2) adding solar panels along the side of roadways, tops of buildings, houses, parking structures
3) adding covered parking spaces with solar panels

The above examples have advantages over solar roadways. They can be angled toward the sun for improved efficiency. They don't require expensive demolition of existing roadways. They don't require waste disposal of existing asphalt (you can't recycle asphalt if we no longer use it). They won't get blocked by dirt and oil as quickly, requiring less maintenance. They won't be blocked from the sun by cars driving or parking on them.

Even if we limit them to parking lots, covered spaces with solar panels would provide another advantage of keeping parked cars cool, which means people will use less air conditioning once they get inside their car, a further energy savings.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Why not both?

Every business should be covering the outside of its building with solar panels, lining the windows with the clear solar panel plastic (I have to find the link for this product again; do not have it right now), and having its parking lots with covered spots with solar panels above them (a great idea). Every homeowner should be putting up solar panels on their roofs (homeowner's association rules be damned, as always) and putting a wind turbine in the back yard.

Perhaps the recovered asphalt and concrete could be pulverized into smaller chunks, mixed into new concrete, and used to produce low-cost housing units for people who need housing. The future of home construction is 3-D printed concrete, which can build a house in only a week.

[Cozarkian]

In the long run I don't really have an objection to both. It's just in a world of limited resources, I think it would be better to focus on the other uses of solar you listed.

In particular, I think our politicians should work on some kind of federal low-interest loan program so that Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Southern California can install solar panels for schools in the desert.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Did you see also that the Ivanpah Solar generating station is fully online now? We could use a few more of those, as well.

On a side note...yes--it's HELIOS One. *laugh*

[Cozarkian]

This article has some cool stuff in it:

ecowatch.com/2013/12/24/renewable-energy-breakthroughs-2013/

[rdhopeca]

Did you see also that the Ivanpah Solar generating station is fully online now? We could use a few more of those, as well.

On a side note...yes--it's HELIOS One. *laugh*

I drove by the Ivanpah solar station on the way back from Vegas a few weeks ago. It is impressive in stature and amazing in scope, to be sure. It's also out in the middle of nowhere (quite literally) so I am not sure how much it costs to get all the energy back to wherever it is going. I also was concerned, however briefly, by how many animals were displaced, as even in the desert, there is life.

Even with all that, I was suitably impressed.

That said, that does not preclude other technologies from taking a stab at solving this problem. There is not a 500 acre empty space near to every town or metropolitan area. I think all avenues that are viable should be explored and incorporated.

[SoulBiter]

Keep in mind that it costs a minimum of 1.5 million dollars per mile to pave a 4 lane road.

A parking lot is more expensive at 2 dollars a square foot. (again the efficiencies of mass production havent kicked in like doing an entire road)

So when its time to repave, instead invest in solar friggin roadways and spend that money on something that will help pay back that investment. Every penny put in the asphault is not paying for itself at all and is in fact depreciating and typically will need replacing in 10 to 15 years.

[Orlion]

Keep in mind that it costs a minimum of 1.5 million dollars per mile to pave a 4 lane road.

A parking lot is more expensive at 2 dollars a square foot. (again the efficiencies of mass production havent kicked in like doing an entire road)

So when its time to repave, instead invest in solar friggin roadways and spend that money on something that will help pay back that investment. Every penny put in the asphault is not paying for itself at all and is in fact depreciating and typically will need replacing in 10 to 15 years.

With the much more expensive cost of the solar cells and the replacement of LEDs every 3-4 years (if they decided to keep that foolishness) plus having to set up an entire energy architecture and never mind the cost of replacing damaged cells which can not follow the sun as it changes course through out the seasons and the day, I doubt we will end up with something cheaper than asphalt concrete with solar roadways. Not in the short term, certainly not in the long term.

The point of roads is to allow for the transportation of goods/people in vehicles. The roads, expensive as they are, provide for this transportation of goods/services for profit and could, I imagine, easily be paid for by taxes (never mind that asphalt is very recyclable... something like 95%).

The cost of glass alone, never mind the fancier computerized and solar cell parts, for solar road ways would be much, much more.

Fine, we all want to live in a science fantasy world where we have hoverboards and space elevators... but there are limitations... actual physical limitations... that keeps such dreams in the realm of fantasy. We would do better in investing in solar farms and developing the solar cell...

[rdhopeca]

I'll let the company defend themselves

solarroadways.com/clearingthefreakinair.shtml

I'm still all for this. Even if it only makes things 5% cheaper I applaud people thinking out of the box in this manner.

[SoulBiter]

Keep in mind that it costs a minimum of 1.5 million dollars per mile to pave a 4 lane road.

A parking lot is more expensive at 2 dollars a square foot. (again the efficiencies of mass production havent kicked in like doing an entire road)

So when its time to repave, instead invest in solar friggin roadways and spend that money on something that will help pay back that investment. Every penny put in the asphault is not paying for itself at all and is in fact depreciating and typically will need replacing in 10 to 15 years.

With the much more expensive cost of the solar cells and the replacement of LEDs every 3-4 years (if they decided to keep that foolishness) plus having to set up an entire energy architecture and never mind the cost of replacing damaged cells which can not follow the sun as it changes course through out the seasons and the day, I doubt we will end up with something cheaper than asphalt concrete with solar roadways. Not in the short term, certainly not in the long term.

The point of roads is to allow for the transportation of goods/people in vehicles. The roads, expensive as they are, provide for this transportation of goods/services for profit and could, I imagine, easily be paid for by taxes (never mind that asphalt is very recyclable... something like 95%).

The cost of glass alone, never mind the fancier computerized and solar cell parts, for solar road ways would be much, much more.

Fine, we all want to live in a science fantasy world where we have hoverboards and space elevators... but there are limitations... actual physical limitations... that keeps such dreams in the realm of fantasy. We would do better in investing in solar farms and developing the solar cell...

And if we never moved forward with new ideas then we will always be doing what we are doing. (isnt that the definition of insanity?)As others have said, we can do both and perhaps many more things. Why put your eggs all on one basket? These will not replace entire roads any time soon. But they might have a place in our energy architecture at some point in the future.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Fantastic is at it again--he misaligned some mirrors and set HELIOS One on fire. Thankfully, the fire didn't last very long and partially damaged only one tower.

Collecting solar energy into one small volume of space is no joke. I saw a film clip once where some researchers used only a small array of mirrors and were able to melt a hole through a thick steel plate.

[Fist and Faith]

Wow! I hadn't even heard of that place. Amazing.

I would think the system of mirrors reflecting sunlight onto water to make steam that turns turbines to create electricity requires a bit more maintenance than solar panels. So it must also make a whole lot more electricity than solar panels.

[Cord Hurn]

I'll let the company defend themselves

solarroadways.com/clearingthefreakinair.shtml

I'm still all for this. Even if it only makes things 5% cheaper I applaud people thinking out of the box in this manner.

I feel the same way.