Solar highways,... maybe ???
- Thread starter Red Devil
- Start date
Lepisosteus platyrhincus;4756049; said:
Expensive, yes but its only up front and would make up for it over time. Non renewable resources are being subsidized so perhaps some of that can be shifted here. Solar does work, but its effectiveness would depend on where it was implemented.
Good idea, but the video showed NOTHING in how solar electricity is being generated by a "solar roadway", it only discussed it and showed a roadway that USES electricity with fancy LED's.
Knowdafish;4756669; said:
I think you may have missed the whole idea. The idea is that the road will be made out of solar panels. The solar panels will produce the electricity.
How do solar panels work?
"Silicon is mounted beneath non-reflective glass to produce photovoltaic panels. These panels collect photons from the sun, converting them into DC electrical power. The power created then flows into an inverter. The inverter transforms the power into basic voltage and AC electrical power."
bigbadfish711;4757182; said:
I didn't miss it. Talk is cheap! The video did not show a single solar generated watt of electricity by said "solar roadway".
There is no way this could be subsidized, the governmental gets money from taxes to pay for the road...when you get subsidized thats part of tax's going to YOUR project...
Unless you own a road, a subsidized renewable energy source that has to be implemented by the government will not be "cheaper" to the tax payers.
Secondly, its a neat idea, but IMO...the heat stored in roads is a better way to get power...The return would be nearly as poor but it would cost alot less to install... Just run forced AIR tubes under the road... then you get heat...to heat homes and stuff.
Unless you own a road, a subsidized renewable energy source that has to be implemented by the government will not be "cheaper" to the tax payers.
Secondly, its a neat idea, but IMO...the heat stored in roads is a better way to get power...The return would be nearly as poor but it would cost alot less to install... Just run forced AIR tubes under the road... then you get heat...to heat homes and stuff.
Yeah it did. 2:09 shows a close up of one of the cells. That black disk in the middle is a photovoltaic. They don't have them in all the recesses and I'm not sure why.Knowdafish;4757779; said:
Older solar panels have problems but there are new thin film panels that work great.
I think it would be nice to start with a parking lot at a mall and see well the mall is powered by it. Then they could work out the kinks with respect to cleaning, maintenance and road conditions.
Given how much subsidies got to heat and electricity for lower income families and the cost of power generation going up with the cost of oil it will. Also the cost spent by government to power their buildings. The feds can lease the roads to local power companies to offset the costs. Though I'd really prefer that private industry lead the way and not the feds.
