Solar Freakin Roadways

My concern still is at night, when generally its peak time for consumers. (People getting in from work, that cup of tea during the break). Solar electricity as far as I am aware can not be stored? So unless it is being used as it is generated it get's wasted?

And at night, there is no sun? What am I missing?
 
balky12 said:
My concern still is at night, when generally its peak time for consumers. (People getting in from work, that cup of tea during the break). Solar electricity as far as I am aware can not be stored? So unless it is being used as it is generated it get's wasted?

And at night, there is no sun? What am I missing?
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All energy can be stored, just not very efficiently. So yes, these roads would only really be useful during daylight hours, when it's dark we'll need to use conventional power sources such as nuclear.

Still, if the technology was viable and cost effective, it would make a huge difference all obviously we use the bulk of our energy through the daytime.
 
Solar electricity is just electricity, if theses are connected to the national grid then it's just the same issues they have with demand management across sources and storing over production.

It won't be the sole solution to green energy, but if the national grid has other sources they can switch on and off and control then it's just like deciding which power stations to fire up at any particular time.

As soon as the overall cost of implementation and maintenance is on a par with tarmac, then why not do it, even if it's dark most of the day or they're covered, anything they produce is a gain and the energy companies have another way of managing production when you combine this with other green sources.
 
Thompson_NCL said:
All energy can be stored, just not very efficiently. So yes, these roads would only really be useful during daylight hours, when it's dark we'll need to use conventional power sources such as nuclear.

Still, if the technology was viable and cost effective, it would make a huge difference all obviously we use the bulk of our energy through the daytime.
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Quick research. Thermal Energy Storage. It seems the answer is in salt/sand. Store the excess generated electricity as heat (one of the easiest things to store). Salt/sand melts only at high temps and vaporizes at stupidly high temps. When sun goes down use the heat to melt the salt to then water to steam thus turning turbines.

Salt has an unlimited supply and extremely cheap!

Winner.
 
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While many of the issues with this idea such as storage and the supporting infrastructure are just large scale applications of existing technology and can be over come with enough investment of time and money, I feel that there is one issue seldom addressed with solar energy that is seldom addressed that applies doubly so for these with all the extra gubbins they are stickinging in.

Most solar power, semi-conductor and battery technologies all require rare earth metals that are scarce for the most part, difficult and quite frequently dangerous to extract (many are toxic) and often very difficult to recycle (used in small amounts in complex components) so require large amount of human labour to extract. Not sure how much of a barrier this is but I 'd imagine it would be an issue for a project of this scale.
 
I think it could work, but it would be something of a logistical nightmare consolidating/reconnecting all the existing equipment under the roads already. Does not mean it is not possible, but would be very costly.

New build estates would be the ideal starting place, then you can build into existing link roads, or add new roads of the same structure. You could then end up with a slow, but ever growing market as more and more areas adopt the system.

This how long the Fibre roll outs have taken, and then multiply the complexity/scale of works by 10 and you might have an idea of the time-scales, costs required!
 
Malt_Vinegar said:
I think it could work, but it would be something of a logistical nightmare consolidating/reconnecting all the existing equipment under the roads already. Does not mean it is not possible, but would be very costly.

New build estates would be the ideal starting place, then you can build into existing link roads, or add new roads of the same structure. You could then end up with a slow, but ever growing market as more and more areas adopt the system.

This how long the Fibre roll outs have taken, and then multiply the complexity/scale of works by 10 and you might have an idea of the time-scales, costs required!
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Thinking out aloud.

Using this stuff on railway networks? Between and either side of rails?

Irrelevant of grip, etc. etc. as train runs on the rails?
Longer life span as tiles aren't actually being worn?
Already a vast network of cables on railway lines?
 
The panels themselves are completely sealed standing water, etc. won't be a problem for that and I'd assume the conduits would be fairly weather proofed.

I'm still not convinved by the grip for driving on in damper weather though - as above it works well in dry conditions but in theory it would become quite slippery when wet.
 
Great idea. Going to cost to much for the road idea. However sell them. And home use you can massively increase your potential. Everyone has limited roof space. Make your drive, decking and garden paths out of these. To increase your potential energy.

I can't see a cost or pW figures per hexagon.
 
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I hate to admit it, but there are some unbeatable arguments in that video. Some points could be overlooked, but others are depressingly accurate.
 
So yeah, he goes on about it being able to take the weight of a large vehicle being glass etc.

They have had the glass tested with up to 250,000lbs on it, why because moving large machinery in north america often weighs that much.

Your typical articulated lorry weighs 88,000lbs
 
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