Wow... Have You Guys Heard About Solar Roadways ???

[WillyT]

Found out about it through FDL: http://firedoglake.com/2010/03/20/come-saturday-morning-here-comes-the-sun/



<snip>

To me, the idea is brilliant in that it solves several problems at one stroke. Instead of putting solar panels on thousands of square miles of wilderness or farmland or other land, why not take surfaces that are already paved and put them to work collecting solar energy, just in time for us to transition from oil to electric cars like the Chevy Volt? It also solves the issue of energy transmission loss rather nicely. One could use the roads to transmit energy from thousands of miles away, but why do that when the nearby roads, playgrounds and parking lots themselves can generate all the energy one needs without the losses inherent in long-distance transmission?

<snip>


More...


Solar Roadways named as finalist in most promising renewable energy award

<snip>

Solar Roadways is a company with a single purpose: to replace our nation’s deteriorating highway infrastructure and crumbling power grid with an intelligent highway system that pays for itself through the generation of electricity and doubles as an intelligent, self-healing, decentralized power grid. The Solar Roadway is made of structurally engineered solar panels that are driven upon. These Solar Road Panels contain LEDs for painting the road lines from beneath the surface, a heating element to prevent snow/ice accumulation in northern climates, and a microprocessor board for control and communications.

“We’ve just completed our first prototype Solar Road Panel with funding from a US Department of Transportation Phase I SBIR contract. Phase II involves a commercialization plan to begin the manufacturing process.” said Scott Brusaw, President and CEO of Solar Roadways. A video demonstration of the prototype can be seen on the Solar Roadways website.

<snip>

Link: http://www.renewableenergymagazine.com/paginas/Contenidosecciones.asp?ID=15&Cod=5084&Tipo=&Nombre=PV%20Solar%20News

Company Website: http://www.solarroadways.com/main.html

Company Website without Flash Presentation: http://solarroadways.com/intro.html

:wow:

[tekisui]

1. What an ingenious idea.

No need to paint and re-paint, just replace LEDs, which have a long life.

[sandnsea]

2. Now that is brilliant

I concur with your

:wow:

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. I don't understand what they claim it does

Are they saying they'd collect energy which could be used for things other than road signs and melting snow as it falls on it? If so, how much - I can't find figures on their website.

[WillyT]

6. Try Here...

Company Website without Flash Content: http://solarroadways.com/intro.html

:shrug:

[WillyT]

7. And here:

Link: http://solarroadways.com/numbers.html

:hi:

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. Thanks, that';s the page I was looking for

I'm very surprised that US asphalt gets replaced on average once every 7 years - you'd think the roads would be a continuous set of road works if that's right. Does it sound accurate, to you?

Also, as far as I can tell, this person is saying "wouldn't it be great if we had solar panels so tough that you can drive trucks over them for 21 years before they need replacing". Is there any sign they've actually worked out how to produce such a tough solar panel? Even in theory?

[liberaltrucker]

11. you'd think the roads would be a continuous set of road works if that's right.

You haven't been to Pennsylvania lately, huh?

:shrug:

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. Well, when I was in PA in the late 90s

the roads were a mass of potholes that could have done with repairing. But I didn't get the impression they replaced the road surface once every 7 years. 70 years would be close to the mark.

[WillyT]

13. Closest I Got...

<snip>

What are you going to do about traction? Cars slip and slide on wet asphalt, let alone wet glass. What's going to happen to the surface of the Solar Roadways when it rains?

Everyone naturally pictures sliding out of control on a smooth piece of wet glass! Actually, one of the many technical specs for the top layer is that it be textured to the point that it provides at least the traction that current asphalt roads offer - even in the rain. I hesitate to even call it glass, as it is far from a traditional window pane, but glass is what it is, so glass is what we must call it.

Last year, I attended a three day workshop called the International Workshop on Scientific Challenges for New Functionalities in Glass in Arlington, Virginia. I received quite an education in the properties and abilities of glass! I presented the Solar Roadways to an international audience of glass scientists. Afterward, I was invited to travel north and present our project to Penn State University's Materials Research Institute. I had lunch with several of their research scientists after my presentation. By the end of this trip, I had been thoroughly convinced that the glass specs that I had presented would not pose any problems.

<snip>

From their FAQs Page: http://solarroadways.com/faq.html

And I LOVE this one:

<snip>

Is your company publicly traded? Are you looking for investors?

No, we're not publicly traded. Like the Blues Brothers, we honestly feel that we're "on a mission from God". We feel that He has entrusted us with an enormous responsibility to make His world a better place. We have (or can hire) the technical expertise to make the Solar Roadways a reality. We now have government funding, but we're always open to a local angel investor who would like to become a part of this project and get his/her hands dirty. We're not interested in someone who's "in it for the money", but someone who sees the vision and, like us, wants to leave the world a better place than when we entered it.

<snip>

From same page...

:hi:

[muriel_volestrangler]

18. It's those materials scientists I'd like to hear from

Making a load-bearing, long-lasting transparent surface isn't a problem for an electrical engineer, it's one for a materials scientist.

[WillyT]

20. Well... They Didn't Laugh Him Out Of The Room, But...

yeah... I'd like to hear what they have to say as well.

:shrug:

[Exultant Democracy]

14. Yes roads are a continuos set of road works, try drving x-country some time.

[Posteritatis]

17. The key phrase there is "on average"

There's streets that are repaired regularly, and others that go decades between fixes.

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. Even high-use roads don't get replaced more than once a decade where I am

Remember we're not talking about how often they're dug up to repair part of it, like a pothole; it's how often the entire surface is replaced.

For instance, we have:

Generally, this type of pavement is used on lower volume state highways and county roads. Counties prefer this type of pavement because it usually costs less. The life expectancy of an asphalt pavement is between 15 to 20 years.
...
This type of pavement is used on higher volume state and interstate highways. It is also used on county roads, but not as often. It is not used as often because it initially can be more expensive. The life expectancy of portland cement pavement varies. It can last as little as 20 years or more than 40 years.

http://www.enviro-explorers.com/rocksandroads_122302/unit2/unit2c.htm

So what are the roads replaced so often they can bring the average down to 7 years?

[Posteritatis]

30. I'm not in the States, but there's areas in my neck of the woods with near-constant roadwork

There's a decent set of really, really overmaintained roads around here, often interlinked by things that probably were last resurfaced before humanity discovered stone. It's all over the place.

[LWolf]

25. My area is repairing roads continuously, every year,

beginning in March and running through October. While every road isn't repaired every year, they are all repaired every few years.

The extreme temperature fluctuations, the graveling for ice, and the studded tires in the winter degrade road surfaces pretty quickly.

[Xithras]

29. Studded tires, car accidents, drippy oil pans, lowriders with cat's 3 inches off the road surface...

SNOWPLOWS.

I can see how a textured class surface might survive under ideal conditions (clean rubber rolling over clean glass), but there's no way it could survive in the real world. Even if it somehow managed to avoid being broken, it would be sanded into an opaque mess within months of installation.

[Doremus]

10. The numbers.

http://solarroadways.com/numbers.html

[Joanne98]

4. Are they tough enough to drive on?

[izzybeans]

5. With the new rechargeable pads for phones I could see some enterprising engineers being able

to do the same with cars (a long time into the future). But the possibilities are there.

[nannah]

8. thanks for sharing; great concept!!! n/t

[That Is Quite Enough]

12. It is pretty wild...maybe a bit of a pipe dream, but still cool

[drm604]

15. Interesting.

I'm not qualified to judge how realistic the idea is but it's certainly interesting.

Some (rhetorical) questions: Who do you pay your utility bill to? I assume that the roads will be surfaced and paid for by government, as always. So do you pay some governmental entity for the power you use? Is the power free beyond the taxes for construction and maintenance?

I assume that the information providers (cable, internet, etc.) would pay to deliver their signals over the system. Who do they pay for that access. The government?

Since the government pays for the system to begin with, it would make sense that they be the ones to charge for the power and communications capability, so this could bring a lot of money into their coffers.

[lonestarnot]

19. Coo.

[KG]

22. makes sense, therefore this idea will be discarded.

[LWolf]

23. I'm intrigued by the possibilities. I'm also wondering

how much electricity would be generated in high-traffic urban areas where roads and highways are parking lots.

[WillyT]

24. I Guess It Would Depend On What Time Of Day They Become Parking Lots...

:shrug:

[LWolf]

26. Los Angeles: is there a time that they AREN'T?

;)
Rush hours, for most places.

[WillyT]

28. LOL... I Hear Ya...

:rofl:

:hi:

[Gin]

27. interesting concept...Mark Warner wanted to put fiber optics

in the roads...fascinating idea and hope it works

[WillyT]

31. Evening Kick !!!

:kick:

[greytdemocrat]

32. Interesting idea...

But I wouldn't hold my breath. I'll have to read about it more but
my 1st question is "And it's been tested with 18 wheelers going over it?"

Sounds good but I bet it goes no where.

[Lorien]

33. Cool! Thanks for posting this!

[BigBearJohn]

34. best idea all year

[AsahinaKimi]

35. I really like this idea

I hope it becomes a reality and works. If so, as a green kind of job, it could put a lot of people back to work as well.