It would be pretty cool if this could gain enough funding/support to get implemented.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/solar-roadways
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/solar-roadways
Solar Roadways
- Thread starter cstrunk
- Start date
It could be useful in some areas, but it would cost $56 trillion to cover all of the current road surfaces. That's trillion, with a T.
Would the nation even need that much electricity because that's a ton of solar panels? If it covered the nation's electrical needs what is the cost of producing those needs now? I have no idea I'm just thinking out loud.
Conceptually it has merit over transforming unused or underused land with solar panels and wind farms. My thought is if the cost per meter can be even remotely close to setting up a traditional solar farm it's a winner. Of course on top of homes and buildings is the other obvious solution and Germany is having success with a cloudier than average climate. The future is quite clearly homes producing much of their own electricity and using at least some of it to power vehicles.
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I think it's a great concept but right now there are too many things in the way for it to be utilized.
They wouldn't have to cover the entire US, just Iowa. Seriously though, once things get mass developed the price eventually drops. While it would be super expensive, I'd be curious what the actual cost would be. Very cool idea.
Lobbyists for the energy companies would do everything in their power to prevent something like this from happening
So, what is the benefit of this compared to just building solar in a desert that is constantly sunny and not driven over?
If you think this is only about solar panels, then you're not reading the whole vision. Conceptually it's a pretty cool long term vision.
The roadways would melt snow and ice, warn of wildlife on the road, charge your EV, use cable corridors and storm water corridors.
The whole roadways as a power grid would seem to reduce a single point of failure as well, a lot of built in redundancies there and using an existing developed space.
The roadways would melt snow and ice, warn of wildlife on the road, charge your EV, use cable corridors and storm water corridors.
The whole roadways as a power grid would seem to reduce a single point of failure as well, a lot of built in redundancies there and using an existing developed space.
There is plenty of land for solar that won't require the shutting down of roadways for extended periods of time during construction.
I wish this would be feasible but it just doesn't make sense. It sounds cool though.
I know. I think this just might appeal more to the crowd that doesn't want to take away from wildlife habitat
Long term though you make it easy to repair the road by replacing panels when they need it versus repaving all of the time. A lot of cost savings on utility work, and an internet like energy grid. I think it's too early to know just what the ROI on this would be.
You need to put the solar panel as close as possible to where the energy will be used. Most of the desert land is far away the places where energy is needed. Keep in mind that almost half of the U.S. population lives in the Eastern time zone. We need a way to produce the energy there.
But the reason there isn't much solar in the east is because it is way too cloudy and there just isn't as much opportunity to benefit from it.
I just find it hard to believe that it will be cheaper to maintain, install, and keep up than conventional solar. It's already extremely expensive and slow to install highways and roads when they are made of asphalt and concrete, let alone a high tech solar panel.
It will likely be extremely expensive to replace and can't be as durable as concrete or asphalt. The closer it is to a high population area that needs the energy, the more cars that drive on it, and the less sunlight that hits the road. The more repair it needs. It gets less efficient the closer it is to the area that needs it.
I'm sure something good will come out of the whole project though.
The Iraq war cost 1.7 Trilllion and was not an investment and this is so...
