I wish I knew. It looked so implausible that I didn't even bother to go. This area is really fertile ground for these "faith-based" enterprises. Solar Roadways is but one of them.
To me, it really shows the need for 100-level chemistry and physics. When I was in college, one of my profs went on the local news to explain why a local inventor's plan of putting car crash barriers on the front of train locomotives would not prevent RR crossing deaths.
We've got bad science-based business by the bushel up here.
can't you angle the LEDs towards oncoming traffic to increase their efficiency?
Yup, they can be angled. Lights embedded in " roadways" are already common. Go to any major jet airport at night, and you'll see embedded guide lights in taxiways. And they are angled. For two-way traffic, they have to be in sets that face opposite directions.
Dave is right though. Project as a whole stinks.
Mike in California
Making recessed structures in the tiles, as in those markers, would make this kind of thing possible, but the little pits in the surface would likely get full of dirt.
33$/m^2/year so they are actually claiming maximum of 30 years for these, that comes to around 990$/m^2/lifetime how much solar energy they have produced. If they are going to get roads that pay for itself during the lifetime....
real quotes from their site:How long will these Solar Road Panels last?
We're designing our panels to last a minimum of 20 years. Solar cells are the limiting factor: they can continue to work up to 30 years but they're at the end of their life cycle by then.Quote from: http://solarroadways.com/faq.shtml#faq60trillionYears ago, when we were working on our very first prototype, we estimated that if we could make our 12' x 12' panels for under $10K, then we could break even with asphalt. That was mere speculation and had no relevance to the cost of even our first prototype, let alone our second.
They should make 1 m^2 panels that lasts 300 years. Would almost break even on that $10K price point?
Please excuse me, If my comment is completely wrong, I did not read the entire discussion, because I got disgusted by some of the really bizzare and negative comments about the project. Once again, I am not saying they are perfect, I just like they actually do something.
Does youtube have a views/day sort function?
This one seems to be getting rather popular.
I wish I knew. It looked so implausible that I didn't even bother to go. This area is really fertile ground for these "faith-based" enterprises. Solar Roadways is but one of them.
To me, it really shows the need for 100-level chemistry and physics. When I was in college, one of my profs went on the local news to explain why a local inventor's plan of putting car crash barriers on the front of train locomotives would not prevent RR crossing deaths.
We've got bad science-based business by the bushel up here.
Sounds like a lot of idiot money flowing free there. Do you have to believe in Jesus FRICKIN' Christ to be part of this club?
I wish I knew. It looked so implausible that I didn't even bother to go. This area is really fertile ground for these "faith-based" enterprises. Solar Roadways is but one of them.
To me, it really shows the need for 100-level chemistry and physics. When I was in college, one of my profs went on the local news to explain why a local inventor's plan of putting car crash barriers on the front of train locomotives would not prevent RR crossing deaths.
We've got bad science-based business by the bushel up here.
Sounds like a lot of idiot money flowing free there. Do you have to believe in Jesus FRICKIN' Christ to be part of this club?
No. You have to stand on the sidewalk with a bullhorn shouting that everyone is going to hell. Just watched a little girl, maybe ten years old doing this last night outside the stadium during a football game. It happens every day here.
And yes, there is a ton of money to be had here if one drops the J-bomb frequently enough.
... sounds like the dumbest idea ever.
It seems that some moron is flagging hundreds of comments on this video as SPAM, but it seems only ones that are against solar roadways.
Seems like we have a rabid fanboyIf one (or just a few) people set to targeting a video's comments as SPAM, what of it? Do the comments get automatically removed?
EEVblog1 hour ago (edited)
IMPORTANT NOTE: I seems apparent that some moron is flagging a huge proportion of comments going against the solar roadway as SPAM. Therefore, don't fret if your comment doesn't show up, I'll unmark it as spam as soon as possible.?
pic.twitter.com/HJUHRwrsLU
@MythBusters
Why didn't anyone think of this before? Solar-powered roadways that light themselves ? http://dsc.tv/x0UIW pic.twitter.com/HJUHRwrsLU
Dave please, another video quickly, otherwise this will be written off in the history books (like Thunderf00t said) saying "no one had a clue because they were so stupid".
If one (or just a few) people set to targeting a video's comments as SPAM, what of it? Do the comments get automatically removed?
There is an old saying: A fool and his money are soon parted. The world is full of fools.
I learnt years ago never invest in something you know nothing about. The investors in these road tiles will lose their money. A masters degree or a PhD does disqualify you from being a fundamental idiot.
There is a story about a roofing tiler who invented a revolutionary engine - the split cycle engine. Sir Jack Brabham even endorsed it. To cut a long story short, it went nowhere and investors lost virtually everything. The roofing tiler walked off with many millions of dollars in his pocket.
Peter Brock made a fool of himself with his "Energy Polarizer"containing crystals and magnets in an epoxy resin that, it was claimed, improved the performance and handling of vehicles through "aligning the molecules". A load of .
The religious Y2K spruikers gave the computing industry a bad name. Conmen who had few abilities other than spreading fear over Y2K and making money out of it.
Dave's video reminds us that if it is too good to be true, it probably is. And do your homework always.
Not to want to divert this thread off topic but the Y2K issue may have been inflated by mass media but there still were many systems that would have produced errors had there not been a MASSIVE remedial effort to update them. A great deal of money time and effort went into replacing and testing to ensure it was all a complete fizzer on the day.
My intent is not to revisit Y2K since it is historic now, rather that if you are going to argue against others beliefs in something then you ought to not include your own biases as well. Whether or not Y2K spruikers and conmen did or did not give the IT industry a bad name and rake in money is an opinion as much based on your particular beliefs.
Someone mentioned that because Dave had negative views that people on the forum who are also negative are just following his lead... and people would have been positive if Dave was positive.
I think we need to give more credit to Dave's viewers and also the healthy and open discussions we have here.
Currently, the full size hexagons are 36-watt solar panels, with 69-percent surface coverage by solar cells. This will become 52-watts when we cover the whole surface when we go into production. When we add piezoelectric, they'll be capable of producing even more power. Also, as the efficiency of solar cells increase, more power will be converted.
If he seriously think this then he should get back the money for his masters EE degree.