BarOne Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Every so often, someone combines a great ideas with great needs and comes up with something quite promising. Is this idea one of those? http://www.wimp.com/solarhighways/ Link to comment
John Ranalletta Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Very cool, but if we can't solve the pothole and lifecycle problems with current materials, what are the chances all those seemingly delicate connections and parts will survive without huge maintenance costs? Bridges and elevated roadways might be a good first application. Link to comment
SageRider Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Interesting, but not very practical. In additional to wear issues, there are shading issues (trees, snow, buildings, etc...), or residue from vehicular usage (tire rubber, oil, etc.) Then along comes thousands of vehicles with chains or studded snow tires and the snow plow.... To me it makes far more sense to convert rooftops to solar.... Link to comment
Green RT Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 I agree. All rooftops should be made out of solar cells. But the idea of converting all the paved surfaces to solar panels has occurred to me before. If every Walmart parking lot was paved with solar panels, we would generate a lot of electricity. Link to comment
Twisties Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Interesting, but not very practical. In additional to wear issues, there are shading issues (trees, snow, buildings, etc...), or residue from vehicular usage (tire rubber, oil, etc.) Then along comes thousands of vehicles with chains or studded snow tires and the snow plow.... To me it makes far more sense to convert rooftops to solar.... Snow plow.... maybe it would just heat itself with electric current. But yeah, rooftops would work better for now. Still, this thing has a lot of allure. Link to comment
Mike Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Fascinating technology. However, seeing the cost of our old world roads, it seems the costs would be staggering. However, I could see converting crosswalks, sidewalks, and parking lots to this sort of technology. The cumulative power generation could be substantial. Link to comment
Gregori Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Commercial building rooftops are ideal for solar. They're large flat spaces, and are generally unshaded. Access for maintenance/cleaning is pretty easy in most cases. And the shade the panels provide to the roof will (marginally) reduce the cooling needs of the building. I seem to recall reading that some tech outfit (Google?) installed solar panels over the tops of parking areas. Yep, it was Google: http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2006/12/72292 Link to comment
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