Coming to a parking lot near you?
May 28, 2014 12:08 PM Subscribe
Solar Roadways is a modular paving system of solar panels that can withstand the heaviest of trucks. The idea was met with both skepticism and optimism last time we talked about it . We may be about to find who was right, they just raised nearly $1.5 Million dollars on IndieGoGo.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Heya, we've got a policy against active kickstarter/indiegogo fundraisers on the front page; maybe revisit this after the end of the month once their campaign is over? -- cortex
SolarRoads in the Netherlands
Solar pavement at GWU
Another Dutch project
Glowing highways in Netherlands.
posted by stbalbach at 12:22 PM on May 28, 2014
Solar pavement at GWU
Another Dutch project
Glowing highways in Netherlands.
posted by stbalbach at 12:22 PM on May 28, 2014
The "Solar Freaking roads" video is so cloying that I don't want this project to continue, regardless of merit.
posted by hellojed at 12:23 PM on May 28, 2014
posted by hellojed at 12:23 PM on May 28, 2014
I hate to be a naysayer, but... no way, no how. It's just not going to happen.
I'll paste what I pasted on Facebook:
Nothing about this project is feasible. It's just not going to happen on any significant scale.
First and foremost: Cost -- it's too expensive. It's way, way, way too expensive. It's not going to be cost feasible for 10-15 years.
Second: Managing the environmental effects of manufacturing (even with recycled materials, manufacturing silicon-based cells on that sort of scale isn't clean [yet?] -- their claims otherwise are bullshit). Waste products from solar cell manufacturing are devastatingly destructive, and while it's somewhat manageable on the scale with which we're producing cells today, this roadways project would increase production of both cells and waste by a few orders of magnitude.
Third: The tremendous amount of electronics required to convert the trickle charge from solar into something that's usable on the grid. Look at any solar panel and you'll see a box next to it that manages energy conversion (trickle DC to AC). You would need massive battery storage capacity just to stabilize the signal.
Fourth: There is no fucking way that tempered glass can actually withstand constant regular road use and shifting dirt underneath. No way. One bulldozer going over it is easy, 5000 cars through varying temperatures etc. Out here, the freeways sink into little dips because it's built on a sand-like dirt, so they have to spend millions repaving it to keep it driveable.
Fifth: Roads are dirty. You would need CONSTANT cleaning -- like every night. It'd be a humongous waste of water and detergents. You'd need an elaborate drain system to cope with it as well.
Sixth: Lifetime. What happens in 10 years? Do we have to replace all of them? What about in 20 years when the electronic components start to fail? Do we just throw away the old stuff?
I can keep coming up with more if you'd like but that covers the big points. This was a scam, and I feel bad for the people who donated to it.
posted by spiderskull at 12:24 PM on May 28, 2014 [2 favorites]
I'll paste what I pasted on Facebook:
Nothing about this project is feasible. It's just not going to happen on any significant scale.
First and foremost: Cost -- it's too expensive. It's way, way, way too expensive. It's not going to be cost feasible for 10-15 years.
Second: Managing the environmental effects of manufacturing (even with recycled materials, manufacturing silicon-based cells on that sort of scale isn't clean [yet?] -- their claims otherwise are bullshit). Waste products from solar cell manufacturing are devastatingly destructive, and while it's somewhat manageable on the scale with which we're producing cells today, this roadways project would increase production of both cells and waste by a few orders of magnitude.
Third: The tremendous amount of electronics required to convert the trickle charge from solar into something that's usable on the grid. Look at any solar panel and you'll see a box next to it that manages energy conversion (trickle DC to AC). You would need massive battery storage capacity just to stabilize the signal.
Fourth: There is no fucking way that tempered glass can actually withstand constant regular road use and shifting dirt underneath. No way. One bulldozer going over it is easy, 5000 cars through varying temperatures etc. Out here, the freeways sink into little dips because it's built on a sand-like dirt, so they have to spend millions repaving it to keep it driveable.
Fifth: Roads are dirty. You would need CONSTANT cleaning -- like every night. It'd be a humongous waste of water and detergents. You'd need an elaborate drain system to cope with it as well.
Sixth: Lifetime. What happens in 10 years? Do we have to replace all of them? What about in 20 years when the electronic components start to fail? Do we just throw away the old stuff?
I can keep coming up with more if you'd like but that covers the big points. This was a scam, and I feel bad for the people who donated to it.
posted by spiderskull at 12:24 PM on May 28, 2014 [2 favorites]
This video makes me want them to fail so hard. Not everything is better with snark.
posted by Pathos Bill at 12:26 PM on May 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Pathos Bill at 12:26 PM on May 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
As an friend of mine put it: "why put them on roads where cars driving over them causes a barrel of problems, instead of just putting traditional panels next to roads where it's a more-or-less solved problem?"
posted by Itaxpica at 12:28 PM on May 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Itaxpica at 12:28 PM on May 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
Why roads? Let's cover all the roofs and other surfaces that aren't getting beaten up by cars every day and then let's talk.
posted by the jam at 12:29 PM on May 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by the jam at 12:29 PM on May 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
As an friend of mine put it: "why put them on roads where cars driving over them causes a barrel of problems, instead of just putting traditional panels next to roads where it's a more-or-less solved problem?"
Exactly. There are so many places that are open for putting solar panels that there's absolutely no need to go and do the much harder and more expensive option of putting them on roads. All the roofs of buildings everywhere. Turn uncovered parking lots into covered parking lots that also generate solar energy.
posted by evilangela at 12:31 PM on May 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
Exactly. There are so many places that are open for putting solar panels that there's absolutely no need to go and do the much harder and more expensive option of putting them on roads. All the roofs of buildings everywhere. Turn uncovered parking lots into covered parking lots that also generate solar energy.
posted by evilangela at 12:31 PM on May 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
Assuming spiderskull's comments are on the mark, I've always wondered if a better way to do this kind of thing might not be as a thermal solar system, using ordinary (or specially formulated) asphalt inlaid with networks of flexible plastic tubes that circulate fluid for thermal energy capture. Not sure if the math works on that approach, but it doesn't seem impossible based on how other thermal solar systems work. I think solar thermal systems tend to be more efficient, too, don't they?
Installing such a system would in practice be a lot more like traditional road construction, so it might not be as costly or energy-expensive. But I haven't done any of the hard research on this, so I'm just going on intuition here.
posted by saulgoodman at 12:32 PM on May 28, 2014
Installing such a system would in practice be a lot more like traditional road construction, so it might not be as costly or energy-expensive. But I haven't done any of the hard research on this, so I'm just going on intuition here.
posted by saulgoodman at 12:32 PM on May 28, 2014
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