Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

ENDLESS ELECTRICITY: Here's A Way Of Turning America's Roads Into Gigantic Solar Panels
Business Insider ^ | 05/14/2014 | ROB WILE

Posted on 05/14/2014 7:13:32 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

solar roadways

Solar Roadways

Julie and Scott Brusaw.

There are about 31,251 square miles of roads, parking lots, driveways, playgrounds, bike paths, and sidewalks in the lower 48 states. If Julie and Scott Brusaw have their way, they will all someday be replaced with solar panels.

For the better part of a decade, the Idaho couple has been working on prototyping an industrial-strength panel that could withstand the weight of even the largest trucks. They now appear to have cracked the formula, developing a specially textured glass coating for the panels that can not only bear tremendous loads but also support standard tire traction. 

By their reckoning, at peak installation their panelized roads could produce more than three times the electricity consumed in the U.S.

The material could power electric vehicles through a receiver plate mounted beneath the vehicle and a transmitter plate is installed in the road.

solar roadways

Solar Roadways

(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Science; Society
KEYWORDS: indiegogo; photovoltaics; roads; solarenergy; solarroadways; solyndra
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101 next last
To: MortMan

I like the idea, but agree with you. These things wouldn’t stand a chance against snow plows.


61 posted on 05/14/2014 8:17:18 AM PDT by Ghost of SVR4 (So many are so hopelessly dependent on the government that they will fight to protect it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: ShadowAce

And for only 14 gagillion dollars (after all the right cronies/socialists get their cut). What bargain.


62 posted on 05/14/2014 8:18:38 AM PDT by Pecos (The Chicago Way: Kill the Constitution, one step at a time.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: ealgeone
Looks like an Avalon Hill board game from the 70s or 80s!

Loved those games and especially the more sophisticated version by Simulations Publications. Four guys and I stacked into a car in the days after Christmas 1974 to go to New York, play test and meet the legendary James Dunnigan in person.

SPI and Dunnigan designed Avalon Hill's better games.

63 posted on 05/14/2014 8:20:32 AM PDT by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: MortMan
Well a 12ft. plow, depending on manufacturer, can weight in at about 3000lbs. and is pushed at around 25-30 MPH, some drivers love to see the rooster tails fly so they go faster.

Would that panel absorb such abuse? Not to mention de-icer corrosion and sand abrasion.

64 posted on 05/14/2014 8:31:18 AM PDT by nomad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

It will never see the light of day, outside of testing. Too much money made by other interests is at stake.


65 posted on 05/14/2014 8:33:49 AM PDT by JimRed (Excise the cancer before it kills us; feed & water the Tree of Liberty! TERM LIMITS NOW & FOREVER!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: nomad

Any “clouding” of the clear covering will reduce efficiency significantly. And driving on the panels will definitely scratch and cloud those surfaces.


66 posted on 05/14/2014 8:36:57 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: maggief

In the winter, solar panels in the south could be used to heat the panels in the north. Snowplows would only be necessary in times of heavy snow fall.


67 posted on 05/14/2014 8:43:45 AM PDT by MCF (If my home can't be my Castle, then it will be my Alamo.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: bigbob
If the joint were pervious so water could soak into the ground underneath that would be a plus.

The ground underneath is still going to be 6-12" of concrete.

68 posted on 05/14/2014 8:45:02 AM PDT by SampleMan (Feral Humans are the refuse of socialism.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: RightOnTheBorder
One problem with solar panels is that when they are connected in series they are limited to the output of the worst producing panel.

Have you heard of MPPT chargers?

69 posted on 05/14/2014 9:14:02 AM PDT by TangoLimaSierra (To win the country back, we need to be as mean as the libs say we are.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: Ghost of SVR4
I like the idea, but agree with you. These things wouldn’t stand a chance against snow plows.

Don't know why so many are making the snowplow comment. Article says they produce heat to melt ice & snow. I like the idea, too, as long as taxpayers are not subsidizing it.

70 posted on 05/14/2014 9:20:34 AM PDT by TangoLimaSierra (To win the country back, we need to be as mean as the libs say we are.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 61 | View Replies]

To: ShadowAce
Everything that I read says solar panels are hot when the sun is up.

Ever step barefoot on hot asphalt or concrete?

71 posted on 05/14/2014 9:22:42 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind
I don’t think it is intended for places that snow.
From the article:Doesn't sound like they excluded any cold/snowy states to me.
Plus, why are they testing in Idaho?
72 posted on 05/14/2014 9:28:42 AM PDT by oh8eleven (RVN '67-'68)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: asinclair

If the market is allowed ot work, every source finds its niche, but solar is only a niche source. The physics of it make it very limited, and that’s before you get to storage issues.


73 posted on 05/14/2014 9:31:18 AM PDT by achilles2000 ("I'll agree to save the whales as long as we can deport the liberals")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]

To: bigbob
If the joint were pervious so water could soak into the ground underneath that would be a plus.

In these parts, the freeze and thaw cycle would have the road surface and subgrade a shambles every spring and fall, and hell to drive on all winter (until the trucks broke everything down and mashed it flat).

74 posted on 05/14/2014 9:33:10 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: MCF

Y’all better have a LOT of sunshine. You’d need to heat the panels 70-80 degrees on some days just to get the snow to melt, and that doesn’t account for wind chill on the panels.


75 posted on 05/14/2014 9:41:34 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 67 | View Replies]

To: oh8eleven

Or are too dirty to allow sunlight to pass through.


76 posted on 05/14/2014 9:43:17 AM PDT by CodeToad (Arm Up! They Are!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: Smokin' Joe

I can see this happening at the Subdivision level. A small power plant built into a subdivision with the sidewalks and possibly driveways configured to accommodate the panels.

Home owners would pay for their electricity as part of their HOA dues.


77 posted on 05/14/2014 9:46:18 AM PDT by EQAndyBuzz ("Heck of a reset there, Hillary"S)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 75 | View Replies]

To: EQAndyBuzz

I can’t see living anywhere there is a HOA.


78 posted on 05/14/2014 9:55:40 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 77 | View Replies]

To: MeshugeMikey

I could see anything happening at this point.

He lies about everything and there’s no telling what else is being covered up.


79 posted on 05/14/2014 10:02:35 AM PDT by JWC 1965
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

To: JWC 1965

the shells about be be busted wide open...


80 posted on 05/14/2014 10:06:17 AM PDT by MeshugeMikey ( "Never, never, never give up". Winston Churchill)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 79 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson