The Video Thread
- Thread starter Wintermute
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Because reading comprehension matters. Parking lots, driveways, and city streets. Places where real estate are a premium already are ideal uses. Or any place you can dual purpose land. If it lowers power cost without increasing upkeep costs past that threshold then it's a net gain that only grows as time goes forward. You don't need to be an engineer to see that part. Y'all sound like old geezers that want to shit on any new piece of tech that comes along. The concept is solid, let's see if they can make it cost viable. Stop looking at the media hype and look for practice uses.
Edit for Callous's post: You are talking about maintaining two different objects (roadway + panels) vs one object built to do both. Which is where the real conversation comes into play. What can you design to be more cost effective. Especially when the next step is plugging the whole thing into your traffic grid system for smarter ... Anything.
Edit for Callous's post: You are talking about maintaining two different objects (roadway + panels) vs one object built to do both. Which is where the real conversation comes into play. What can you design to be more cost effective. Especially when the next step is plugging the whole thing into your traffic grid system for smarter ... Anything.
Tuco
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You sound like you're completely full of shit. Also I'm an engineer and that fact is irrelevant. I'm excited to see how we'll use solar in the future but the concept is shit and no amount of dumbass buzzwords you're repeating from soft science enthusiast publications will change that.
Abefroman
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The concept is fucking retarded no matter how cheap they make it. It's been said already and I'll say it again. It's not that we don't have enough room, it's that it's too fucking expensive.
Boil it down. Smart x that powers itself. And / or reduces power consumption around it. Make it cost effective and put it to use.
Media hype of flying cars and glowing roadways aside, the technology itself is interesting.
Furry
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putting solar panels in the road is unbelievably stupid. Ignoring the fact that gigantic semis would break the fuck out of them, general dirt and oil would make them unusable very quick. Even if you wanted to cover that real estate with solar panels- which is so far off its idiotic to even contemplate at the moment, It'd probably make more sense to cover the roads and have the solar panels above them.
Byr
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you could sell it as cars always being in the shade and therefor being good for emissions with cars using less air conditioning. now to cite some study you didnt actually read likehttp://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy00osti/28960.pdf(seriously, first link on google, if it doesnt actually support our stance we will worry about it when someone else actually takes the time to read it) and to facebook!
Big Phoenix
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god those videos are fucking retarded, stop posting them. even worse is the fact i just saw the same fucking video posted on another god damn website.
Tuco
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The costs of raising the solar panels to be high enough for semis to pass under it would likely outweigh the savings of decreased AC usage. And it's not like AC usage would just be eliminated on highways because there was some shade on it. It might not even drop in half on a hot day.
Did you actually read that article btw? It's very outdated and not that good.
Not necessarily. Democracy and anti-slavery laws are both very good ideas.
Saw Godzilla this weekend. These french dudes named their metal band after him.
Saw Godzilla this weekend. These french dudes named their metal band after him.
Not to promote either way, but when I saw the video, I was kinda curious how bad the financial part could be. While I agree that currently prices won't really make it feasable, I think that time kinda plays in the favor of such an idea, because the calculation depends strongly on the prices of solarpanels and the cost of energy and while the first constantly dropped in the past years, the second constantly rose, at least in Germany.
I did a quick google search, by no means extensive, so don't hang me if numbers not correct anymore or off, but the cost per square meter for solar panels that I found is somewhat below 400? here and produces around 1000kWh per year. With todays spot market prices that is 40? per year. (way higher if one would add the subventions for renewable energy)
Building normal city roads costs around 60? per square meter here, just for comparison.
I am aware that the panzer general map solar panel thingies with that that fancy LED, touchsensitive tech in there, probably will be more expensive that your everyday roofmounted solar panel, but these numbers are way less aweful than I expected when I saw the video.
Given there are alot of other unknowns, like maintenance and how these things withstand time and traffic and so forth
I did a quick google search, by no means extensive, so don't hang me if numbers not correct anymore or off, but the cost per square meter for solar panels that I found is somewhat below 400? here and produces around 1000kWh per year. With todays spot market prices that is 40? per year. (way higher if one would add the subventions for renewable energy)
Building normal city roads costs around 60? per square meter here, just for comparison.
I am aware that the panzer general map solar panel thingies with that that fancy LED, touchsensitive tech in there, probably will be more expensive that your everyday roofmounted solar panel, but these numbers are way less aweful than I expected when I saw the video.
Given there are alot of other unknowns, like maintenance and how these things withstand time and traffic and so forth
25 years ago a workstation class PC was $4500-6500, for a ~25mhz processor. They were still bought and readily used.
Saying it's too expensive isn't a good argument, innovation is always expensive early on - especially when it's a sea-change to something as ubiquitous as tarmac roads.. the affordability comes later.
Saying it's too expensive isn't a good argument, innovation is always expensive early on - especially when it's a sea-change to something as ubiquitous as tarmac roads.. the affordability comes later.
Abefroman
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It will never ever be cheaper then putting solar panels on every single house. It will never be as effecient as solar farms. The concept at it's very foundation is not only flawed but just flat out silly.
Tuco
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Putting solar panels into roadways isn't innovation. It's the misguided combination of two entities in useless ways. All the costs of implanting solar panels into roads, protecting them and eating the decreased efficiency from the protection + imperfections caused by use + cars being over the panels have no upside other than you don't have to bother finding another place to put the panels.
There's a reason why the creators of this idea don't have any figures on the cost of the solar panels and the diminished efficiency of them vs a conventional solar panel. Once people see that figure they'll laugh the idea out of the room like it deserves.
Also, I don't think it is meant to power your house, I think it's meant to power itself and give the ability to have a "smart" road.
BeachParty
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