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June, 2025

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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
11 years ago
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SnorkBoard
Posts: 311 - Karma: 821
http://youtu.be/qlTA3rnpgzU

I forget how to embed
11 years ago
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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
11 years ago
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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.
11 years ago
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arnie_grape
Posts: 3459 - Karma: 11,912
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlTA3rnpgzU&feature=youtu.be
11 years ago
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arnie_grape
Posts: 3459 - Karma: 11,912
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.
11 years ago
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a_pla5tic_bag
Posts: 9244 - Karma: 5,695
http://www.theonion.com/articles/scientists-politely-remind-world-that-clean-energy,36086/
onion is lolz.
11 years ago
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arnie_grape
Posts: 3459 - Karma: 11,912
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
11 years ago
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LoathesRaisins
Posts: 3612 - Karma: 4,735
Hopefully this becomes a reality.
11 years ago
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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
11 years ago
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eheath
Posts: 61964 - Karma: 126,855
I was apprehensive at first about traction, especially with snow but of course they're heated to above freezing... geneus.
11 years ago
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SnorkBoard
Posts: 311 - Karma: 821
The referenced post has been removed.


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.
11 years ago
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TOAST.
Posts: 7780 - Karma: 40,079
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.
11 years ago
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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.
11 years ago
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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.
11 years ago
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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.
11 years ago
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