Solar Roadways?!

[Zach929rr]

Very cool vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep4L18zOEYI

[Dr. Joe Siphek]

link no work

[Zach929rr]

link fixy

[Ghost]

Interesting idea, I'd like to see a working/driveable/plowable prototype

[Dr. Joe Siphek]

what about lightning strikes? also very intrigued about traction.

[Ghost]

what about lightning strikes? also very intrigued about traction.

I assume you could texture the glass surface for traction, we have preconceived notions of what "glass" is or can be, but as a material it's really way more than just the transparent panes in your wall.

Lightning would be interesting, as would be the joins or seams or whatever links the sections to each other, I assume it would be laid in blocks since this isn't something you can just pour to a mold like concrete or asphalt...

[Zach929rr]

Also keep in mind, that if the company sees their idea to fruition, the modular panels would also carry TV, high speed internet, phone (if its even still viable), and power. I just posted it because it is interesting to think of the global changes that would occur if the physical medium that connects us also becomes the remote medium that connects and powers us.

[Ghost]

Also keep in mind, that if the company sees their idea to fruition, the modular panels would also carry TV, high speed internet, phone (if its even still viable), and power. I just posted it because it is interesting to think of the global changes that would occur if the physical medium that connects us also becomes the remote medium that connects and powers us.

Great. Ads IN the road...awesome...

Of course, by that point we won't be driving anyway, just sitting in a coffin that pilots itself along the silicon highway with the slightest whisper of an electric motor....:roll::poo:

[Snowman]

Seems to me this would work very well in an downtown area to start.
The complexity to pave something like an instate highway would be a bit cost prohibitive at this time.

[Zach929rr]

Great. Ads IN the road...awesome...



Well, at the current pace of technologies, and the ever-closing gap between solar and conventional fuel/power sources in $/kw-hour, one would like to think that these installations could pay themselves off quick enough to no longer have the NEED to offset implementation and maintenance costs by using road-approximate advertising such as billboards (or in road ads, as would be the logical step from billboards). Obviously not saying it wouldn't happen, but its nice to think that maybe, somehow, bureaucracy wouldn't sell the road for an couple of extra dollars.

[Ghost]

Obviously not saying it wouldn't happen, but its nice to think that maybe, somehow, bureaucracy wouldn't sell the road for an couple of extra dollars.

I can't hear you over the sound of imaginary cash registers all going "Ka-Ching" :(

[Snowman]

If they went with that printable solar (http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/12/printable-solar-cells-could-lead-to-a-more-robust-energy-supply/) they could solve allot of the manufacturing issues they are going to have.

[rybo]

Photovoltaics still take more energy to produce than they will produce in their lifetime. The gap is closing, but it's still an energy negative equiation and there really is no such thing as "free lunch".

Have a look at this - http://nature2energy.com/f4/french-produce-wacky-roadside-wind-turbine-24956.html

[Snowman]

Flexible solar cells that can be printed onto paper (http://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2011/07/13/51453/flexible-solar-cells-that-can-be-printed-onto-paper.htm)
With these coming down the line, that might not be the case for much longer.

[mastap07]

pretty cool idea, just not sure how it would work with bad weather as well as traction. it is a very cool idea how it can warn you of objects in the road.
also the cost per square foot for asphalt compared to solar might be an issue...

[leviathin]

very cool!!! watched a couple of related videos of theirs and then went to their website. a couple of days ago the govt just approved phase II funding which is $750,000 for 2 years, at the end of that time they will need a functioning parking lot.