View Topic

So! This strange particular video has been popping up on my facebook a lot recently and I got interested and randomly posted a big ol' thing about it on some random person's status so, in the interest of lively debate I have decided to share both my post and the video with you... So here goes.

The Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlTA3rnpgzU

My Post

Okay, so let's very seriously talk about this then, because I keep hearing about it and I keep hearing the blame for why it's not happening pushed ALL OVER THE PLACE... And that's entirely unfair... So let's talk about them.
Let me start by saying I do, in fact, absolutely adore the idea of Solar Roadways... But it's important to hold any idea that you like to the highest scrutiny to be more sure of it and a better person because of it overall... So with that in mind, let's get started.

1. Solar Roadways would cost A LOT to get started. And I don't mean like changing a couple things here and there a lot. I mean redoing just one street with all of the ideas talked about and explained in this video would cost an exorbitant amount... Not only on Public Services but on homeowners as well. Making it so that your house can connect with the road produced power instead of the distributed power would cost a lot and a lot more to those with older and older houses. And that can lead to it's own difficulties as you might imagine.

2. So say we do get over the hump of the starting money, which I forgot to mention would cost something in the area of 56 trillion dollars, or at least that's what most of the estimates read out too... Then you're stuck with upkeep problems... And herein lies a more interesting question. These roads are covered in something that can take on a huge amount of pressure and general force, it's a lot like bullet-proof glass, which means that it will essentially never get a pothole which is perfect. And even if it does it's produced in hexagons, you can just switch them out. No, the problem lies in the fact that they need access to the light to be effective... Which means constant cleaning. Roads that are heavily trafficked, such as the roads in downtown Seattle, would have to be cleaned possibly as much as every hour to keep any form of effectiveness. And at the point where we're cleaning them every hour is the point when they start to become much less cost-effective. Possibly not even paying themselves off in their lifetimes.

3. Let's stop talking about costs because it is awfully awfully boring stuff... Let's talk more sciencey things. It's the type of thing I like more anyways. To the problem we have always had with Solar energy... We have both no effective ways of storing it for night use in large amounts and no way to effectively pass it along great distances. To power our nation on solar energy these are both things we'd absolutely need. Especially now with increasing work hours and advancements in personal electronic distraction night uses of energy are higher than ever and they're just likely to keep on growing. So, the question is if we dump all this time, money, and energy into this system... How can we justify it when it can't be used to light the dark...

4. Again same as basic solar panels... Useful in Arizona but not so much in Washington or all of Canada or Alaska... Solar panels and roadways are absolutely fantastic when it's sunny all the time... Completely and totally wonderful. However we cannot control the sun and often it gets cloudy and suddenly our solar panels become much much less effective. And because we'd be depending on them for power that means when it gets a bit darker there might be more and more power rationing. Something we, in our very privileged lives, would not take too kindly too. A bit of rain and suddenly your block's lights go out. Not so pleasant... And also their placement in terms of how much light they get would effect whether they paid themselves off in their lifetime... Which is when you get to the point where you have to figure out if the overall system would pay itself off ever with the ones in Arizona being cost-efficient after something like twenty years... And having a predicted lifetime about twice that as I understand it... And of course these issues all feed back into not having a way to transfer it over great distances and no way to store it but I thought I might illustrate it more.

5. Redoing all of the roads in America is simply not practical... People send in hundreds of complaints when one important road is taken away from them for just one day... Can you imagine what it would be like if every road in America had to be, at one point or another, closed and redone over the course of several years? Every single road dug up, repacked, and replaced with these hexagons... Very few people would willingly agree to that at this point... Particularly factoring that eventually everyone would have to change the wiring on their houses too... Getting the general public to agree to that would be near impossible.

6. This is a lab prototype right now... This couple has just about one driveway covered. And while they have done a lot of lab tests and such to figure out the problems and I'm sure have done excellently on that however! The amount of huge literally incalculable amount of variables that are present in real life situations particularly over 20 years are huge... It is a common mistake to put too much faith in things like this much too early before they have been through all the proper testing. Even from the researchers themselves. Many other scientists and engineers have stated that this technology, while important, needs more time. Which is part of the reason that it isn't being pushed more and funded more... The pair did receive several contracts and grants to advance their idea more and have now lost a lot of general funding which is part of the reason they went out to raise 1 million dollars on IndieGoGo for production purposes and finalizing of research.

In summation... I don't think it's time for this tech yet... Not only do we not have enough supporting technology to make it work but we don't have the money, the public order, or a finalized certainty that this will work at all either... While this technology is a wonderful start and they are presenting the beginnings to the solution of a very big problem we've had so far, it is only the beginning. And there's a lot more that needs to be done before we toss civil peace and money out the door before we believe in something too much.

Criticism and counterpoints are welcomed with open arms... This is something that would be mutually beneficial.

So, my lovely Wintreathian friends... What are your thoughts on this very interesting tech and pair of people?

The cost: they pay for themselves, that is the whole argument for this point. Once they're up and running, the amount of energy they generate and continue to generate non-stop without replenishment, adding more things to a dirty dirty fire etc will not only pay for their installation but pay for it double, triple... the longer they run, the more money you get back from them.

Also, the US government can fund the NSA and pays through the nose for Ethanol subsidies when no-one, apart from the ethanol farmers, really wants to use. They can pay for this - plus there's a kick-starter: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/solar-roadways

The storage: I believe there's a lot of experimentation with large-scale energy storage at the moment, of which several are in talks with the couple who're designing this project. Besides, this is more a matter of need over actuality - once the demand is there, the space will be filled because it won't be cost effective otherwise and God knows Americans hate wasting money!!!111!

Usefulness: Whilst I can't immediately find the link to support this, there are prototype solar panels currently in development which a) don't need direct sunlight and b) work at night. To my understanding, the name is misleading - looking like solar panels, these actually absorb the radiation found both at night and during the day despite the cloud-cover.

If you're attempting to argue inefficiency, I'm just going to laugh at you here - America is the home of inefficiency and goddamn if you're going to use that to argue against something very, very, very worthwhile + green + economically viable + able to power the entire US TIMES 3, you're one of those people I just won't get along with.

Whilst this tech is undeniably still in development, by the time it comes round to implementation-phase most of these issues will have been dealt with. It's a worthy cause that's going to have great benefits if/when it's rolled out across the world so let's not argue about how practical it is and instead support it so they can overcome these challenges.

I read about this a few weeks ago, and I find the idea positively fascinating.

There was a period in American history when the nation would be excited to take on a grand project such as this, regardless of the cost. It was during this time that the electric grid and national highway system were built, both at great cost. Many of our sewer and water systems were built during this period as well. Let's not forget the space program...a very expensive expenditure that was undertaken mostly for national pride. Years later, we're now facing the point where the infrastructure built during that period is beginning to wear down and need replaced or maintained. It's estimated by the American Society of Civil Engineers that $3.6 trillion will be needed by 2020 just to repair and maintain our current infrastructure. Now is the perfect time to consider new, bold ideas such as this...unfortunately, this is a time where everyone is so concerned about costs that even current maintenance and repair requirements aren't being fully funded, and we're quickly falling behind other nations such as China that are dumping huge amounts of money into their own infrastructure.

I don't doubt that additional work needs to be done, but this is such an exciting projects that could have so many benefits. Yeah, it's cleaner which is good, but this is a system that would more than pay for itself over time, especially if we could sell excess energy produced to other countries. It would provide a backbone for all sorts of potential modern services and get rid of vulnerable and ugly above-ground lines and poles. This would be a massive project that would produce jobs, and kickstart research and development in solar energy, energy storage, technology, and related fields, potentially making us a leader in the field and bringing back manufacturing to the nation. I surmise that this would also provide safety benefits as well, since it would clear snow and ice on its own (also eliminating the need to buy salt and plows in winter climates) and eliminate the risks of poles and charged electrical wires falling down. There may even be the potential of doing this on private parking lots and driveways, allowing individuals to sell back excess electricity to the grid.

Also, as with everything else...the more you make and put into making these, the more costs would go down to make each single one. I imagine this would remain a small-scale project focused on bringing costs down before it was rolled out nation-wide.

This is definitely one of the most exciting projects I've seen, and I'm glad it's nearing its IndieGoGo goal. I think projects such as this have the best chance of success if people invest in them, and we don't just depend on the government to fork over money to them. A million dollars isn't much when you consider what will be needed, but I'm excited to see how much further the project can go on it.

I saw this on my Facebook about half an hour ago. It's a very exciting prospect, and as far as I can tell there are very few downsides.

Also, I want to live in London. Can you imagine London with those gangsta-ass TRON roads? Can you?

Givin' me goosebumps.

I think the major obstacles to this include the oil and coal industries. Big power is going to fight against it. It seems like there are more wind farms now than there were though. I would love to see solar roadways catch on.

It's a good idea, but futile to really try and make a reality for the same reasons Reon pointed out. If the entire Sahara desert was covered in solar panels, there would be more than enough electricity generated to power the entirety of mankind. And there's a very good, blatant reason why it isn't. Solar roads would cost literally trillions of dollars. And there are very, very few people that can spend trillions of dollars these days. And those few sure as hell aren't interested in solar panels. It's not just putting them on a harmless roof. We're talking cars and trucks thundering down these things daily and in huge numbers. Doesn't matter what they're made of, because there aren't many more things in this world that take more of a beating than your average freeway. They're gonna need tons of upkeep, and tons of cleaning, very often too. So if they do pay themselves off, we should be counting in centuries here.

Nice sentiment, but I don't think it's gonna ever happen. There are too many other options for power, even green power, that cost a lot less money.

We will never live in an era where oil is absolutely not necessarily.
Not unless there is a material that can replace it....if you look around you right now about 90% of what you see comes from oil or a oil by-product.

I think the concept of these is cool, but in reality I could never see these being implemented. Mostly because I think there would be little recourse for people not to try and steal them.

http://elitedaily.com/money/future-solar-roadways-installed-america-next-year/635849/

Just some news XD Bringeth back from the depth of threadom

That is incredibly awesome! Rolling it out in a smaller city will prove the concept further and allow testing on a larger scale...it's a good next step for this project.

This idea has certainly took so long to be thought....Oil runs the market now...It will be nice, idk if sun would do that...

How does oil run the power industry?

Well oil is used to produce electricity as well...lets not forget that...supermarkets...everything needs oil...if supermarkets don't have oil in their trucks, simply you won't have any food in the stores etc...
Perhaps I am mistaken, correct me if I am wrong please

It isn't used in creating power, IIRC. The big ways to make power are: Nuclear, Coal, and Renewable Types(Hydro-Electric, Solar, ect.). Oil isn't used to make electricity, it may make the parts that make the energy, but it, in itself does not make electricity

In itself perhaps no, but still needed for that...

Also Oil still needs to be used to use some of the parts....