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Repost? Solar Freakin' Roadways

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SnorkBoard
Posts: 311 - Karma: 821
Pretty cool stuff coming out of my home town
May 23 2014 11:07PM
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SnorkBoard
Posts: 311 - Karma: 821
http://youtu.be/qlTA3rnpgzU

I forget how to embed
May 23 2014 11:09PM
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jpastor
Posts: 431 - Karma: 848
did a research project on solar roadways last year, coolest shit i have seen in a long time
May 23 2014 11:15PM
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Ducky.
Posts: 5811 - Karma: 1,420
Bump for stoke. It's a long way from being reality, but the positive long term implications of this are astounding.
May 23 2014 11:21PM
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arnie_grape
Posts: 3455 - Karma: 11,739
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlTA3rnpgzU&feature=youtu.be
May 23 2014 11:40PM
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arnie_grape
Posts: 3455 - Karma: 11,739
Ducky.Bump for stoke. It's a long way from being reality, but the positive long term implications of this are astounding.


yeah I'm pretty excited by this idea too.
I haven't watched the video or read anything about it yet but this sounds super duper expensive. on the flip side, when you think of all the square footage of every highway and every road, imagine what could be produced if they were all solar panels.
May 23 2014 11:44PM
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a_pla5tic_bag
Posts: 9223 - Karma: 5,435
http://www.theonion.com/articles/scientists-politely-remind-world-that-clean-energy,36086/
onion is lolz.
May 23 2014 11:49PM
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arnie_grape
Posts: 3455 - Karma: 11,739
i just watched the video this looks pretty neat.
but still looks really expensive. and I'm curious as to how durable they are. im tempered glass can withstand cars and animals walking all over it, but will hoodrats be able to smash them with hammers?
hopefully one day
May 23 2014 11:55PM
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LoathesRaisins
Posts: 3612 - Karma: 4,735
Hopefully this becomes a reality.
May 24 2014 12:10AM
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Rusticles
Posts: 2180 - Karma: 1,337
Sounds great, but what happens at night? No longer producing electricity, they'll need on board batteries or use grid power, also you will need larger batteries to power the grid when it's needed
May 24 2014 3:54PM
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eheath
Posts: 61708 - Karma: 124,239
I was apprehensive at first about traction, especially with snow but of course they're heated to above freezing... geneus.
May 24 2014 5:07PM
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cobra_commander
Posts: 16909 - Karma: 4,681
Anyone who has driven though a western mountain pass in summer can see the stupidity of this idea.

Maybe on some low mileage roads in the the SW this could have potential, but it will be a long time before this can work on a road that sees heavy traffic. How well do they take repeated exposure to semi's rolling over them? How expensive is it to replace the broken tiles?
May 24 2014 5:59PM
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SnorkBoard
Posts: 311 - Karma: 821
cobra_commanderAnyone who has driven though a western mountain pass in summer can see the stupidity of this idea.

Maybe on some low mileage roads in the the SW this could have potential, but it will be a long time before this can work on a road that sees heavy traffic. How well do they take repeated exposure to semi's rolling over them? How expensive is it to replace the broken tiles?


I think at this point the main market will be private driveways and sidewalks, obviously there are a few things that would need to worked out in order to make it a large scale thing like the video suggests. It's basically still a prototype, but once some of the bugs are worked out and more innovations are made, it seems somewhat viable.

The first telephones were shit but now we carry little computers in our pockets.
May 24 2014 6:47PM
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TOAST.
Posts: 7543 - Karma: 37,045
unless they hold up better than current road materials, i dont really see it working. Current roads are pretty shitty and always being repaired.

For driveways and sidewalks it would be cool though.
May 24 2014 10:33PM
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Mr.Huck
Posts: 6096 - Karma: 14,903
pussyfooterI was apprehensive at first about traction, especially with snow but of course they're heated to above freezing... geneus.


I'm not convinced yet. Think about heated drive ways and all the problems people have if the drainage isn't perfect. If it's dumping hard the heated panels may not be able to keep up. What happens if you are forced to drive a plow over it? I'm not saying they couldn't work out these issues, but there would be a lot of work and $$$ involved.
May 24 2014 11:00PM
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liftedresearcher
Posts: 1140 - Karma: 1,775
im sure the big oil boys down in Houston will have something to say about this. oil money runs the economy, its not that easy just to replace the roads with solar panels and save the world.

it would be great if it proves to be a feasible idea. as an electrician, i would love to get a hold of some of these and test them on my sidewalk or driveway. i could make a fucking fortune installing them too.
May 24 2014 11:14PM
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shocker611
Posts: 2599 - Karma: 423
Honestly I think there is a future here. If they, instead of using little octagons, used the flexible solar technology that is getting really good, you could make huge rollers (like giant plastic wrap rolls) of solar "tape" that you could pretty much roll over the existing roadways or sidewalks, then possibly cover them with additional support (like the glass), meaning that you wouldn't have to lay entirely new roadways with tedious little building blocks, but could instead simply roll the solar technology onto the roads. If I remember correctly, these panels are super impact resistant so you may not even need to put a covering on top of the panels.
May 25 2014 2:52PM
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