7

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/solar-roadways#home

This indiegogo campaign suggests replacing roads and highways with solar panels that could produce power, while keeping themselves free of snow and easy to replace. The idea as outlined in the video is pretty amazing.

This article related to the same project is highly critical, pointing out that at 4.4 million dollars per mile, it just isn't feasible to implement at any scale. Looking up how much normal highways cost to build makes that price look much less damning.

Is the claim that these roads could easily pay for themselves believable, and should we expect this to be a workable solution for energy generation?

Damon
  • 501
  • 4
  • 6
  • 1
    It seems like the $4.4M / mile is just for the cost of the panels, not the cost of grading, installation, etc. I'm not sure, but that seems like $4.4M / mile versus the cost of the surfacing material (asphalt/concrete). And I am very skeptical of the fundamental concept of a glass-covered road surface: surely a pebble in a wheel tread is going to scratch / damage the surface. – Larry OBrien May 24 '14 at 02:01
  • @LarryOBRien Solar power technology has come a long way -- witness the fact that Spirit managed to keep operating even through a Martian sandstorm. Likewise, "Glass" is used a bit overly broadly nowadays... – Shadur May 24 '14 at 07:37
  • @LarryOBrien I also note that the second article referred to doesn't seem to have *any* real science or technology based arguments, just a "Seriously? Glassed over roadways with solar panels?" which suggests to me that they didn't bother to more than skim the original article before writing an opinion piece to tank it. – Shadur May 24 '14 at 07:40
  • In fact, *several* of the objections in the second article are answered in the solar roadways' own site FAQ. The author *really* didn't bother to do any research of their own. – Shadur May 24 '14 at 07:42
  • I suppose what *I'm* skeptical of is the premise that "available surfaces" is a challenge so significant as to justify all-new technology. I'm all for solar power: My house runs on a PV system. Roofs are a good environment for solar panels! We have a nearby parking lot that has conventional solar panels that *shade* the cars: off-the-shelf technology, 100% solar exposure at proper angles, no load-bearing / wear issues. "Snap-together" modular PV systems are worth developing, but why make them roadways/parking areas? – Larry OBrien May 25 '14 at 19:17
  • @LarryOBrien for one, using the surfaces themselves to also *transport* the power generated, thereby (finally) dispensing with potentially vulnerable overhead power lines. – Shadur May 26 '14 at 08:08
  • My first reaction was... "slippy!", but it does look like they've done their homework on that. I guess the #1 advantage is real-estate and planning permission, given that the roads are already there. I'm more skeptical about how you prepare a base layer that is precise, stable and solid enough to fix these things to. That and road noise. – Benjol May 26 '14 at 13:15
  • One day it may happen, but at this stage the indigogo campaign is specifically designed to raise money to test the idea out in the real world. Testing it out under real conditions is an important first step to figuring out whether it is practical now or not. –  May 29 '14 at 15:45
  • There is a recent [Jalopnik post](http://jalopnik.com/why-the-solar-roadway-is-a-terrible-idea-1582519375) (FWIW) post which has few numbers, but does link to more interesting items at [ExtremeTech](http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/183130-solar-roadways-passes-1-4-million-in-crowdfunding-just-short-of-the-56-trillion-required-but-not-bad-for-a-crazy-idea) and at [Singularity Hub](http://singularityhub.com/2010/08/08/solar-roadways-crackpot-idea-or-ingenious-concept-video/). – choster Jun 04 '14 at 20:44
  • Thunderf00t has done 4 or 5 videos on the subject. Here's the first one and the others are at the top of his recent video list. He explains the variables about the possibility of this project. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H901KdXgHs4 –  Jun 28 '14 at 02:47
  • "Practical", "easily", "workable", etc. are all opinion words. They are not disputable by any realistic proof. This question clearly invites speculation and not the objective presentation of facts. – Sklivvz Jun 28 '14 at 11:23
  • 1
    @Skliwz Yeah, they are opinion words but the idea is so bad that none of them could reasonably be applied. – Loren Pechtel Jun 29 '14 at 01:53
  • Please reopen this as it's not opinion based, it can be calculated whether or not it's practical by running the numbers of the cost of producing a roadway versus the value of the electricity it generates over its mean lifetime. – GordonM Jun 24 '15 at 09:32

0 Answers0