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re: Solar FREAKIN' Roadways! - OTB edition
Posted on 5/30/14 at 1:56 pm to mizzoukills
Posted on 5/30/14 at 1:56 pm to mizzoukills
quote:
exactly. how would you plow off snow without damaging expensive solar panels?
again I'm sure they've thought of this. you could email them to find out if you really want to know I'm sure
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Posted on 5/30/14 at 2:02 pm to hawgfaninc
This is just stupid.
Why would we cover our roads in solar panels when we can put them in wide open fields for a fraction of the price.
Just because they'll look cool at night?
+what about the case of a bad snowstorm up north?
Supposedly they're going to melt the snow off but if its continuous snowfall and cloud cover then you're gonna need to bring in exterior power sources because the solar panels aren't creating electricity under a foot of snow.
STUPID
Why would we cover our roads in solar panels when we can put them in wide open fields for a fraction of the price.
Just because they'll look cool at night?
+what about the case of a bad snowstorm up north?
Supposedly they're going to melt the snow off but if its continuous snowfall and cloud cover then you're gonna need to bring in exterior power sources because the solar panels aren't creating electricity under a foot of snow.
STUPID
This post was edited on 5/30/14 at 2:07 pm
Posted on 5/30/14 at 2:09 pm to AGoodTexan
quote:
Why would we cover our roads in solar panels when we can put them in wide open fields for a fraction of the price.
because those open fields could be used for other things?
you can't make more land. land is at a premium. roads are already taking up that land. turn the roads into something useful. turning the roadways into solar roadways would accomplish more than filling a field with solar panels would. LED lighted roads, underground utilities, pressure sensitive roads, heated roads for weather, etc. solar panels in an open field take up precious land and generate power, that's it
Posted on 5/30/14 at 2:12 pm to AGoodTexan
quote:
+what about the case of a bad snowstorm up north?
Supposedly they're going to melt the snow off but if its continuous snowfall and cloud cover then you're gonna need to bring in exterior power sources because the solar panels aren't creating electricity under a foot of snow.
STUPID
you don't think they've thought of that? you can email them to find out if you wish
regardless it's still a better idea for our roads than what we currently use. if you have a better idea It would be nice to know
Posted on 5/30/14 at 2:24 pm to hawgfaninc
quote:
if you have a better idea It would be nice to know
Anything that doesn't cost $56 trillion
Asphalt- $2/sq ft
Solar RW- $70/sq ft
This post was edited on 5/30/14 at 2:27 pm
Posted on 5/30/14 at 2:29 pm to AGoodTexan
quote:
Anything that doesn't cost $56 trillion
that's an educated guess. until we see some definite numbers, there's no reason to jump to conclusions
even if it did cost that much, it would be worth it IMO. if it can't accomplish what the engineers that developed it say it can accomplish, then it isn't worth it
Posted on 5/30/14 at 2:31 pm to AGoodTexan
quote:
Asphalt- $2/sq ft
Solar RW- $70/sq ft
link?
either way it would still be worth it if it accomplishes what they say it will accomplish
Posted on 5/30/14 at 2:38 pm to hawgfaninc
LINK
quote:
As you can probably imagine, asphalt is pretty cheap (on the order of a few dollars per square foot) — and Solar Roadways, which are essentially solar cells wedged between thick slabs of ultra-tough glass, are not cheap. Back in 2010, Scott Brusaw estimated a cost of $10,000 for a 12-foot-by-12-foot segment of Solar Roadway, or around $70 per square foot; asphalt, on the other hand, is somewhere around $3 to $15, depending on the quality and strength of the road. According to some maths done by Aaron Saenz, the total cost to redo America’s roadways with Solar Roadways would be $56 trillion — or about four times the country’s national debt.
Posted on 5/30/14 at 2:46 pm to hawgfaninc
quote:
link to a better idea than solar roadways?
Well, I already did. But OK: rooftops, where the panels can be tilted to follow the path of the sun. Of course we do that now, but it's still too expensive for most... which should tell us something about solar roadways.
Posted on 5/30/14 at 2:53 pm to AGoodTexan
quote:
LINK
cool.
my only problem with any article downplaying solar roadways is it sounds exactly like what the big oil companies want you to think. also there's a lot of shite that guy don't know for certain. he's making a lot of assumptions.
the biggest problem I see people having with solar roadways is its cost and uncertainty/fear of change. both of those problems don't bother me as long as the solar roadways are able to accomplish what the engineers intend for them to do.
Posted on 5/30/14 at 2:56 pm to finestfirst79
quote:
Well, I already did.
I read that. rooftop solar panels are great, lets do that. but they still only generate energy, that's it.
solar roadways do that and more, according to the engineers that design them. if the government and the public get behind this, the cost issue goes out the window
Posted on 5/30/14 at 3:08 pm to hawgfaninc
quote:
I'm not an engineer on the project. but I'd say it's safe to say they've thought that scenario through already
Never make this assumption. Ever. Engineers are often designing, building, and testing, and management is doing the scenarios. Scary but true.
Posted on 5/30/14 at 3:11 pm to AGoodTexan
quote:
Anything that doesn't cost $56 trillion
Asphalt- $2/sq ft
Solar RW- $70/sq ft
If this would work, I say we literally throw every penny of foreign aid and worry about getting this country back on its feet and prospering.
Posted on 5/30/14 at 3:13 pm to PrivatePublic
quote:
Never make this assumption. Ever. Engineers are often designing, building, and testing, and management is doing the scenarios. Scary but true.
k
guess someone will need to contact them to know for sure one way or the other
Posted on 5/30/14 at 3:14 pm to PrivatePublic
quote:
Never make this assumption. Ever. Engineers are often designing, building, and testing, and management is doing the scenarios. Scary but true.
Yep. I have met many, many stupidly idiotic engineers in the past ten years and they seem to get dumber each year and less willing to listen to reason.
Posted on 5/30/14 at 3:23 pm to hawgfaninc
quote:
if the government and the public get behind this, the cost issue goes out the window
What? So it's free, then?
Posted on 5/30/14 at 3:26 pm to hawgfaninc
quote:
the biggest problem I see people having with solar roadways is its cost and uncertainty/fear of change. both of those problems don't bother me
Cost should matter a whole lot, no matter who you are.
If we go 56 trillion in the hole for this then you can say goodbye to America as we know it.
Posted on 5/30/14 at 4:30 pm to AGoodTexan
quote:
Cost should matter a whole lot, no matter who you are.
Yessir, it sure should. Beyond that, though, some of their claims sound a lot like magic to me. Dark asphalt roads absorb heat about as well as anything, and they sure don't keep snow/ice from covering them. How are inefficient solar panels supposed to do that? The LED thing makes a nice video presentation, but those are only useful at night. Which means batteries... lots and lots of batteries. If you eliminate those 2 features then I don't see any advantage over rooftop placement.
Posted on 5/30/14 at 4:36 pm to Warfarer
quote:
Yep. I have met many, many stupidly idiotic engineers in the past ten years and they seem to get dumber each year and less willing to listen to reason.
I didn't take that as his meaning, says the idiotic engineer. Many engineers including myself are involved all the time in cost-be-damned designs. It isn't that we're idiots, costs just aren't a design criteria. It's up to somebody farther up the food chain to decide whether a solution makes sense financially.
Posted on 5/30/14 at 4:50 pm to finestfirst79
quote:
I didn't take that as his meaning, says the idiotic engineer. Many engineers including myself are involved all the time in cost-be-damned designs. It isn't that we're idiots, costs just aren't a design criteria. It's up to somebody farther up the food chain to decide whether a solution makes sense financially.
We got a call one day from an engineer who wanted us to give him a a rough estimate on slope paving the Pea River one time. We asked him if he was serious and he said yeah, there was money to be made doing it so he wanted to apply for the grant to do it. We just sat there in disbelief and finally said we wouldn't have any idea on where to start.
For those who don't know, Pea River is a big arse river that is about 150 miles long and pretty wide.
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