Road Power Grid that does stuff

[wpirobotbuilder]

Probably the coolest advert for this tech ever.

[dizmo]

Don't know how those would fare in colder climates. Not only that but the cost of implementing such a thing would be astronomical.

[Scionyde]

Slightly annoying video aside, it seems fairly interesting.

 

However, I'm curious to know what the cost of each panel would be and what the expected lifespan of each one is. Also, while the tempered glass surface looks pretty durable(is it also scratch resistant?), it looks like dirt and stuff might accumulate pretty quickly and hinder the ability to capture sunlight, so it would need to be cleaned relatively often. I think the intermittent nature of solar energy and our current mediocre means of storing energy makes it difficult to 100% replace all our energy needs, but even if it just provided the energy responsible for lighting, heating, and powering sensors, that could be pretty useful. Then again, I imagine there's a fair percentage of roads that spend nearly all their time in the shade, so there would have to be some infrastructure in place to have other parts of the road compensate.

 

I'm not completely sold on the idea, but I'd be pretty interested to see results from it being implemented on a small stretch of publicly-used roadway.

[IronSoldier]

Steal the road. Sell for money

#profit

[qwertywarrior]

this like  the 3rd repost

[WhatTheQuack]

-snip-

On their website's FAQ (http://solarroadways.com/faq.shtml#faqClean), it says that dirty panels only generate 9% less power than clean panels, and they suggest some solution to keep them clean as well. Also they are planning to fit piezoelectric elements to the panels which will generate electricity just from the vibrations of the vehicles driving over them. But the cost of each panel might cause some councils to refuse to install them, so I have to agree with you there 

 

With the current state of the environment, this should have really been a thing a long time ago, I will be excited as to where this will take us in terms of infrastructure development.

 

But what about hacking... WatchDogs IRL anyone?!

[thirdworldking]

i think this is good but like always there are downsides.

 

downside 1 it would cost a ridiculous amount of money like trillions

 

downside 2 the amount of electricity actually being produced would be much less then what they estimate unless of course they took into account for how many cars will be on the road how much traffic jams would affect this and also how cloudy days would also affect these. dont get me wrong i like the idea but you always have to consider the downsides and see if it is actually worth it.

[rashdanml]

Technological issues aside*, good luck getting oil companies on board. Probably the biggest hurdle, which is the main reason Electric cars aren't mainstream yet. 

 

Solar panels are still not very efficient. Add to that the inconsistent exposure to sunlight (which is essential) and it probably won't be enough to make a big difference. At most, it'll probably take a small slice of the grid. 

[ZetZet]

Don't know how those would fare in colder climates. Not only that but the cost of implementing such a thing would be astronomical.

Not really. Since we repair roads all the time so you would only need to not repair, but replace.

[dizmo]

Not really. Since we repair roads all the time so you would only need to not repair, but replace.

It doesn't really work like that. This would have to have wires tapped into the power grid, as well as other things added to make it function as stated in the ad.

You also have to hire people to manage it, learn how it works, install it, etc etc.

It's far from that easy. Also when repairing a road it's usually patch work, it's very uncommon to tear up an entire strip of road to replace it.

Also what happens when a vehicle crashes? I doubt they tested hard impacts from jagged pieces of metal.

[ZetZet]

It doesn't really work like that. This would have to have wires tapped into the power grid, as well as other things added to make it function as stated in the ad.

You also have to hire people to manage it, learn how it works, install it, etc etc.

It's far from that easy. Also when repairing a road it's usually patch work, it's very uncommon to tear up an entire strip of road to replace it.

Also what happens when a vehicle crashes? I doubt they tested hard impacts from jagged pieces of metal.

It's fairly common in my country to tear up entire strip of road, because patching never works, if you start patching you will be patching every year.

Power grid is not a big problem. Sure you would need to invest into this, but it's not that insane of an idea.

[dizmo]

It's fairly common in my country to tear up entire strip of road, because patching never works, if you start patching you will be patching every year.

Power grid is not a big problem. Sure you would need to invest into this, but it's not that insane of an idea.

The cost. Is. Huge. You're paying for circuit boards, solar panels, LED's, etc. With concrete you're paying for various grades of dirt.

What happens in winter when water gets between the boards, expands and cracks them?

[ZetZet]

The cost. Is. Huge. You're paying for circuit boards, solar panels, LED's, etc. With concrete you're paying for various grades of dirt.

What happens in winter when water gets between the boards, expands and cracks them?

This is a concept..?

[dizmo]

This is a concept..?

That doesn't mean that such things don't pose problems, and the problems stated shouldn't be addressed

[ninehours]

Saw this on reddit todat, looks very interesting, what are your thoughts on it? is it as good as the bloke is making it sound or can you see any downsides

 

[Anthony10]

my concern is, just like consumer solar panels, the technology isnt perfected yet and it is not the time to invest into and install them yet

[Fred Castellum]

my concern is, just like consumer solar panels, the technology isnt perfected yet and it is not the time to invest into and install them yet

I specialize in solar panel companies when trading stocks and I can confirm this. 

 

On top of that durability and reliability comes into question. We need more details ironed out before anyone other than mindless hippies will decide to invest their money into it. 

[Cookybiscuit]

Never going to work or be implemented in a billion years.

[Yummychickenblue]

The're SOLAR FREAKING ROADWAYS!

 

interesting concept.

[T.Vengeance]

It would never work in Canada/Northern US/NY. Imagine how much damage potholes could be on solar roadways.

[ViruZ_HUN]

Till the end they will broadcast porn on those roads

 

But its a AWSOME idea. I support it

[MrTomnus]

The concept is super awesome and it would solve a bunch of problems, but I can't help but see a few problems with this.

 

Are they going to be as safe to drive/ride on as tarmac? Those prototypes had a bobbly glass surface which I could imagine wouldn't be great for breaking distances and would make riding a bike on them a horrible experience. And if they get wet, while they may have storm drains there is still going to be surface water, and glass + water = super slippery surface...

 

I'm all for reducing energy costs and making things sustainable, but MAN are those things ugly. They'd better hope they can cover those things in as many LEDs as possible so they can change the colour of them...

 

I admire them for bringing some innovation to an industry that has been stagnant for a while, but it needs to be improved just a bit more before we can start seeing these everywhere.

[tobben]

-snip-

if you didn't notice those panels are big, thick and probably pretty heavy, we already have wiring going everywhere, i really think wiring is the least of the problems we have here .. although the the actual installation process would probably be incredibly expensive and require an ungodly amount of work hours as everything else related to this project, as mentioned in the video you could make that the foundation of certain infrastructure, fiber optics, power etc getting rid of atleast some of those pesky poles.

 

and yes everyone knows solar panels require a fair ammount of energy to produce, the downside is that it takes a long time in service before the return is greater than what was spendt, but it will exceed it eventually and the technology might advance, that is why i am curious about the expected lifespan, it's called an investment, maybe it would even reduce the maintenance required on roads(well realistically probably not), our roads are riddled with imperfections aswell, you can't just "fix" the roads because a couple years later(maybe even sooner) they will be filled with holes and imperfections again, and atleast many of the road workers here in norway are utterly useless, they just do half assed uneven patch work here and there, creating more problems instead of doing a solid job in the first place, at that rate every single road would have to be replaced at some point because everything is a broken mess, as for your point about wasting the energy on heat.. i don't think that deserves a reply.

 

i'm not saying this is the best idea ever or even realistic, atleast not for now, but it certainly is a cool concept, all the roads are there anyway, you might aswell make something useful out of that surface area instead of covering it with some useless substance that just deforms and cracks, and honestly, i'm sure the designers of this has thought though everything to a much greater extent than we can just sitting there imagining the implications.

[IdeaStormer]

I like it but not convinced about the traction.

 

As for the whole SOLAR FREAKING ROADWAYS, if you looked at the whole video they also have the necessary maintenance infrastructure underneath so if a better panel comes along it can be upgraded, then providing power/data/cables and support for runoff is a win even if you stick a blacktop panel.

[antoainb]

They are nowhere near perfection but it is a much needed and good concept.