Solar Roadways: How Ridiculous

[SPS]

Has anyone come across the campaign to raise money to pave all roads, parking lots, drive ways, etc in America?

The Indiegogo campaign is here and it's raised over $2million.

Have they thought this through at all, after watching these videos it seems they really haven't.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H901KdXgHs4&list=UUmb8hO2ilV9vRa8cilis88A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3ftXinT4jI

 

[maniac]

This campaign seems stupid enough and not really doable imo, but gives rise to some more easily obtainable ideas.

What if we filled the sheer amount of roofs of houses/apartments/factories/offices with solar panels, here we are already in that stage, most houses produce their own electricity and new building are covered in solar panels, still far away from being sustainable though, expensive as hell being the main reason.

 

[SPS]

Fitting panels on roofs happens here and it is way more cost effective than ripping up the entire road system and laying down, literally, trillions of LEDs :lol:

 

[yassarikhan786]

Fitting panels on roofs happens here and it is way more cost effective than ripping up the entire road system and laying down, literally, trillions of LEDs :lol:

Imagine the maintenance

They should use the money to fill all the pot holes as that would make more sense.

 

[SPS]

Imagine the maintenance

They should use the money to fill all the pot holes as that would make more sense.

Yup or fit them where they would require little maintenance and be more efficient.

 

[yassarikhan786]

Yup or fit them where they would require little maintenance and be more efficient.

They might actually be quite good for the more open/derelict roads where there is a lot of wildlife.

 

[Wraith]

Considering it's going to cost $20,000 per sq/mtr it's not really a feasible world wide application as the total cost would be astronomical... it would cost $750,000 just to do our drive.

 

[dalewakelin]

We just need thorium reactors, solar roads would be a waste of money, maybe in the future they would be possible.

 

[SeekaX]

I don't think solar panels are exactly great material to drive on?
What a retarded idea.

 

[SPS]

I don't think solar panels are exactly great material to drive on?
What a retarded idea.

Well they are enclosed in tempered glass - which is equally retarded :lol:

 

[SeekaX]

Well they are enclosed in tempered glass - which is equally retarded :lol:

Sounds like a pretty cost efficient thing to do. Not to mention the glass shards ripping up your tires everywhere.

 

[WYP]

Given how fragile and expensive ordinary solar panels are, paving a road with them is simple NOT advisable.

Firstly the solar cells will need to be protected by a preferably clear material, which will then be covered by road dust and tyre marks which will require constant cleaning and replacement when its protection wears. Tyres vs silicon????

Secondly basic solar panels are expensive, never mind high efficiency or in this case load bearing solar panels. The Idea of having a solar Panel which has vehicles, stuctures etc covering them for a considerable amount of time of the day and even the idea of a load bearing solar panel is just a silly idea.

 

[SPS]

Given how fragile and expensive ordinary solar panels are, paving a road with them is simple NOT advisable.

Firstly the solar cells will need to be protected by a preferably clear material, which will then be covered by road dust and tyre marks which will require constant cleaning and replacement when its protection wears. Tyres vs silicon????

Secondly basic solar panels are expensive, never mind high efficiency or in this case load bearing solar panels. The Idea of having a solar Panel which has vehicles, stuctures etc covering them for a considerable amount of time of the day and even the idea of a load bearing solar panel is just a silly idea.

Just watch the videos for some epic lols

 

[WYP]

Sounds like a pretty cost efficient thing to do. Not to mention the glass shards ripping up your tires everywhere.

Not to mention that Solar Panels need to be covered by a clear, polished, Flat sheet of glass. Rainy days would be fun.

 

[SPS]

Not to mention that Solar Panels need to be covered by a clear, polished, Flat sheet of glass. Rainy days would be fun.

25000 square miles = ~60 billion square meters @ $300 per square meter for tempered glass = ~20 trillion dollars...

Not to mention the PCBs, LEDs, solar panels and man power to fit this.

 

[SeekaX]

Not to mention that Solar Panels need to be covered by a clear, polished, Flat sheet of glass. Rainy days would be fun.

No, you can just rough up the surface and...oh yea right! Then the solar panels are useless.
This idea was properly thought through. Hats up to the morons who backed it.

 

[Wraith]

There are alternatives to panelling roads, like roof tops, tops of street lights, deserted quarries ect.. even the notion of doing this to "all" roads is just ludicrous. I feel sorry for the poor saps that have contributed already and to say it would boost the economy is just laughable, it's just a temporary fix if anything.

Plus we already have sustainable energy alternatives ie. tidal wave generators, wind turbines and oh yeah...... Solar freaking panels.

I know lets carpet all footpaths, that way I don't have to wear shoes anymore! :lol:

 

[SeekaX]

I feel sorry for the poor saps that have contributed already and to say it would boost the economy is just laughable, it's just a temporary fix if anything.

We could just let people build a wall and destroy it over and over again, would create loads of jobs, still not a very good idea. Same approach though.

 

[remember300]

i think if anyone is going to do anything to the roads it should be the CO2 scrubbers, basically plastic hollow trees with algae in it, all along the road which would absorb massive amounts of CO2 and and they could have panels on each with LED lighting for the roads with PIR sensors so that after 10PM the roads are black until a car is coming then it lights a moving half mile stretch. Saving power and light pollution.

 

[ShaunB-91]

Just make vehicles out of solar panels instead, some way of transferring the energy, yeah.^_^