Author Topic: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!  (Read 399303 times)

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Offline Mr.B

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #525 on: October 03, 2016, 03:16:09 am »
All you need are blinky LEDs.  Nothing else matters.

Agreed.
Our stupid local council paid a fivetune for pavement mounted water fountains with multi colour LEDs under the water spouts.
The solenoids turn on and off in a sequenced pattern through the four of five jets spaced about 2 meters appart.
Nobody seems to care that it cost the rate payer mega-bucks.
Everyone just says "Isn't it pretty".

To add insult to injury, they also run it in the height of summer.
Water being splashed all over the show by the kids and evaporation... All during water restrictions when I am not allowed to water my vegetables...
I approach the thinking of all of my posts using AI in the first instance. (Awkward Irregularity)
 

Offline LabSpokane

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #526 on: October 03, 2016, 03:24:57 am »
They did it better in 1977:

 

Online ataradov

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #527 on: October 03, 2016, 03:25:47 am »
All you need are blinky LEDs.  Nothing else matters.
Then hire Mike, he knows how to make robust large scale blinking LED installations :)
Alex
 
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Offline LabSpokane

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #528 on: October 03, 2016, 03:35:55 am »
All you need are blinky LEDs.  Nothing else matters.
Then hire Mike, he knows how to make robust large scale blinking LED installations :)

You read my mind.  I immediately thought that Mike could do something 100X as cool in 1/10 the time *and* it would do what it's supposed to.   :-+
 
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Offline jonovid

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #529 on: October 03, 2016, 04:31:07 am »
Quote
They did it better in 1977:
[/size] Yay! Leds Lol  :-DD
« Last Edit: October 03, 2016, 06:09:01 am by jonovid »
Hobbyist with a basic knowledge of electronics
 

Offline EEVblogTopic starter

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #530 on: October 03, 2016, 05:14:27 am »
Site


There is a perfectly good road right in front of it, why not install the Solar Roadway there?  ::)
 

Online ataradov

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #531 on: October 03, 2016, 05:16:26 am »
There is a perfectly good road right in front of it, why not install the Solar Roadway there?  ::)
City administration is not THAT stupid.

Also this green roof building is a public restroom, regular solar panels can go on top of that. They will be way more efficient, but won't have blinky LEDs, of course.
Alex
 

Offline EEVblogTopic starter

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #532 on: October 03, 2016, 05:32:01 am »
#1


Wow that's a lot of wasted square area per panel.

And why don't they look like they were supposed to?
« Last Edit: October 03, 2016, 05:34:03 am by EEVblog »
 

Offline EEVblogTopic starter

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #533 on: October 03, 2016, 05:38:46 am »
They light up so pretty at night!
I wonder were they get the power from...


 
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Offline EEVblogTopic starter

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #534 on: October 03, 2016, 05:50:35 am »
Disco floor mode.


Don't ask me how ANY of the lighting displayed corresponds to creating the yellow and white lane marking used on roadways. I haven't even seen what resembles an attempt to do so.

The LEDs are quite coarsely spaced, and unless the panels are installed diagonally from the oncoming traffic, straights lines are going to be hard. BUt even then, look at the panels, the LEDs don't even line up between panels  :palm:
Not that the LED idea is ever going to be practical anyway  ::)
 

Offline LabSpokane

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #535 on: October 03, 2016, 06:07:19 am »
Site


There is a perfectly good road right in front of it, why not install the Solar Roadway there?  ::)

An even better question would be, why didn't Solar Roadways install the system at their own parking lot entrance, where cars drive in and out every day? 

The panels had to be installed on the sidewalk, because the minute it snowed, those panels would shatter with the first chained-up UPS truck going over.

And they don't look like they originally did because I'm fairly certain they realized just *how* poor the transmissivity of those first glass slabs were. Not that I think after the potting compound in these ages and yellows that this generation will fare much better.

Tomorrow, I will go dialing for kW-h data. It should be interesting...
 
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Offline LabSpokane

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #536 on: October 03, 2016, 06:12:18 am »
They light up so pretty at night!
I wonder were they get the power from...


By the way, that gentleman in the photo is a filmmaker (didn't get his name), so expect some type of movie-ish/documentary to be coming down the pike. When I saw him yesterday, he was sweeping sand to help with the install.
 
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Offline LabSpokane

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #537 on: October 03, 2016, 06:24:28 am »
The LEDs are quite coarsely spaced, and unless the panels are installed diagonally from the oncoming traffic, straights lines are going to be hard. BUt even then, look at the panels, the LEDs don't even line up between panels  :palm:
Not that the LED idea is ever going to be practical anyway  ::)

The hexagonal shape is a complete train wreck from a design and efficiency standpoint.

I'll see if I can get up to Sandpoint in a week and take some daylight photos just to illustrate how indistinct the LEDs are. I saw absolutely no effort to address the directionality of the LEDs.  I'm trying to be neutral, but it's hard not to feel insulted by just how little effort was put into developing a functional roadway that generates solar power. The two most important criteria have been completely ignored. And this is after ten years and nearly $3MM USD.

Thus far, nobody who is footing the bill seems to care a whit.
 

Offline Fungus

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #538 on: October 03, 2016, 07:06:15 am »
7:26 pm PDT - Less than 12 hours after unveiling, two of the working panels have already had some type of electrical failure.

It's all part of the scam.

Now they can ask for more funding before anybody gets a chance to fully analyze the Wattage data.
 

Offline rrinker

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #539 on: October 03, 2016, 12:03:20 pm »
 Even better - not only is there a perfectly good roadway right in front of the location, there's a nice crosswalk there that oculd have been redone with the solar panels. After all, if they can keep the snow and ice off, plus generate power, wouldn't it make sense, keeping the crosswalk safer for pedestrians? And the whole thing could light up red when there's oncoming traffic as an alternative to the Do Not Walk sign.

 As for the comparison to Saturday Night Fever, well, they do have one HUGE advantage - being LEDs they won't get nearly as hot as those 70's disco floors. But absolutely agree, enough blinken lights and the public is fascinated and won't care if the whole thing is actually energy negative.

 

Offline coppice

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #540 on: October 03, 2016, 12:27:47 pm »
The top surface of those panels appears to be an ordinary flat glass sheet. Isn't that going to be a little slippery if it rains? It looks like a real health and safety issue for passnig pedestrians. What happened to their low wear high grip vehicle grade glass surface?
 

Offline LabSpokane

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #541 on: October 03, 2016, 12:42:32 pm »
The top surface of those panels appears to be an ordinary flat glass sheet. Isn't that going to be a little slippery if it rains? It looks like a real health and safety issue for passnig pedestrians. What happened to their low wear high grip vehicle grade glass surface?

There is actually a very fine, but grippy texture on the surface. No worries about slipping. I tried it.
 

Offline EEVblogTopic starter

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #542 on: October 03, 2016, 01:27:50 pm »
The panels had to be installed on the sidewalk, because the minute it snowed, those panels would shatter with the first chained-up UPS truck going over.

Yup. After all these years and millions of dollars in development, the only thing that's been on these tiles is a sub 1ton tractor with low pressure tires  :palm:

Quote
And they don't look like they originally did because I'm fairly certain they realized just *how* poor the transmissivity of those first glass slabs were. Not that I think after the potting compound in these ages and yellows that this generation will fare much better.

Yup again. They'll never release that data though.

Tomorrow, I will go dialing for kW-h data. It should be interesting...
[/quote]
 

Offline EEVblogTopic starter

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #543 on: October 03, 2016, 01:32:55 pm »
I'll see if I can get up to Sandpoint in a week and take some daylight photos just to illustrate how indistinct the LEDs are. I saw absolutely no effort to address the directionality of the LEDs.  I'm trying to be neutral, but it's hard not to feel insulted by just how little effort was put into developing a functional roadway that generates solar power. The two most important criteria have been completely ignored. And this is after ten years and nearly $3MM USD.

Yup, and here us "doubters" with our silly engineering data and knowledge we were getting attacked by the true believers about how the LED solution could be easily solved :blah: and they haven't even tried.
Perhaps they already know it's entirely impractical?
Oh, you want to direct those LED's? Which direction? How much loss? How much power is required?  :palm:
 

Offline digsys

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #544 on: October 03, 2016, 01:55:25 pm »
Quote from: LabSpokane
  There is actually a very fine, but grippy texture on the surface. No worries about slipping. I tried it. 
And seriously, how long will that last ?
Hello <tap> <tap> .. is this thing on?
 

Offline EEVblogTopic starter

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #545 on: October 03, 2016, 02:32:17 pm »
 

Offline LabSpokane

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #546 on: October 03, 2016, 02:33:35 pm »
Quote from: LabSpokane
  There is actually a very fine, but grippy texture on the surface. No worries about slipping. I tried it. 
And seriously, how long will that last ?

As a road?  It would likely be worn down very quickly. As a disco floor, it will likely stay grippy enough to impede many of the more advanced moves for a few months.
 

Offline LabSpokane

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #547 on: October 03, 2016, 02:42:24 pm »
The Engadget peanut gallery are out  :palm:
https://www.engadget.com/2016/10/02/solar-roadways-public-test/



And so is missed the entire point of having an education in science and engineering: so we can spend 10 minutes with a napkin and a calculator and know what *not* to spend $3MM and ten years developing.
 

Online ataradov

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #548 on: October 03, 2016, 03:15:59 pm »
It looks like we have an answer to visibility of road markings question. Here is how that thing looks in a day light.
Alex
 

Offline Fungus

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Re: EEVblog #632 - Solar Roadways Are BULLSHIT!
« Reply #549 on: October 03, 2016, 05:35:13 pm »
And so is missed the entire point of having an education in science and engineering: so we can spend 10 minutes with a napkin and a calculator and know what *not* to spend $3MM and ten years developing.

But they're Americans! Americans can achieve anything if they just want it badly enough.

 


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