I'm genuinely impressed by how outrightoffendedpeople are by this solar panel road.
"Balderdash!" they cry out in a huff. "Hogwash!"
They then proceed to use their in-depth knowledge of the product in question to pick apart why it's "retarded" with all the confidence of a true expert.
Assholes.
For one thing, the fact that roads would be generating solar energy is hardly the only selling point for this product.
Wanna talk about maintenance? Which is harder/more expensive: Paying a large group of people running heavy equipment to tear up and re-pave a damaged area over several days, or popping out a damaged panel and replacing it with a mass-produced one?
Which is harder/more expensive: Re-painting bike lanes and lane dividers as they change with the seasons or changing the code that says what lines to display on the road?
Which is harder/more expensive: Paying hundreds of trucks to remove snow and carry it away to another area every time there's a heavy fall, or having the snow melt instantly as it hits the road (that may not mean much to those of you who don't get snow, but it's a HUGE benefit for those who do).
Which is harder/more expensive: Maintaining aging wooden poles holding up power lines and losing power whenever lines are broken, or having said power lines run under the street where they are both less of a visual nuisance and less likely to suffer damage from the elements?
If you pave a school yard with these panels, there is tons of potential for innovation, such as video games the students interact with by running around on the play field.
Then there's the safety features, where it would not be unfeasible to alert drivers on the road of a crossing animal up ahead (or children in a school zone for that matter). Heck, there's nothing stopping the sensors from picking up on erratic driving and alerting police of potential drunk drivers. That brings me to my only real gripe about this product: The dangers of Big Brother. If we ever did get a product like this, it would almost certainly be stripped of its more notable features (including even solar power) in favor of just pressure sensitivity. They'd say it's for our safety (see: Detecting drunk drivers), but they'd basically be able to track every car on the road, and if they can there's little doubt for me that they will.
Too expensive? Give me a fucking break. By outright eliminating several expensive aspects of road and power line maintenance these panels would pay for themselves many times over. Get over yourselves, guys.
