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This is where the idea of highway and surface streets being solar panels becomes interesting. This isn't science-fiction either, there are a few pilot deploymen
by SEJeff 11y ago
This is where the idea of highway and surface streets being solar panels becomes interesting. This isn't science-fiction either, there are a few pilot deployments already such as:
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/05/11/3657220/solaroad-producing-energy/ http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/05/11/3657220/solaroad...
- iSnow 11y agoI dunno. What happens in case of a crash? If a vehicle burns on the PV panels? You don't want to pour water on a PV installation. And a road built from glass? What happens in winter with ice forming? That's not going to go well.
- logfromblammo 11y agoYou're not going to use glass panels in your roads. You're far more likely to use printed spools of flexible cells and cover them with a translucent, pourable protective layer. Some form of epoxy, or a concrete impregnated with optical fibers, perhaps? The efficiency per unit area will be horribly low, but when multiplied by the area of the whole road, you still end up with a lot of power. You will lose some area to potholes. That's just another reason not to use the expensive, glass-covered cells.
- AtlasLion 11y agoDoesn't work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOZBrHqTJk4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOZBrHqTJk4