4 ms·

Why is it pointless ?

jacquesm 11y ago
Because roads that carry a lot of traffic will need resurfacing before the solar panels have reached their economic break even point. There are a lot of bull-shit renewable energy projects, which is a real pity because there are also a lot of good ones and the bad ones give all of those projects a bad rap.
- oblio 11y ago
  On the other hand, if they do it piece meal and are willing to back out if the initial phases don't succeed, what better stress test for the material do you want?
- Rexxar 11y ago
  I don't know if this project is bull-shit or not. But a big part of solar electricity cost is installation cost and emplacement cost, not the solar panel. By using "free" space and installing those panel while building/repairing the road we can save on those two important cost. The question is : is it enough to offset the drawbacks ?
  - barney54 11y ago
    No. Areas to put solar panels are not that scarce.
    - marshray 11y ago
      Just put them properly angled and positioned in the highway medians instead. This is not hard people.
- neffy 11y ago
  What about all the roads (most of them in the suburbs) that don't carry a lot of traffic?
  - jacquesm 11y ago
    Go for it. My $0.02: complex shading and frost damage as well as water getting into the system, overload from excess weight vehicles and so on seem to me to make the roads the very worst spot where you'd want to place a solar panel. Unless you place them on the sound barriers in Urban zones (and there you're going to have a reflection issue impacting safety).
torgoguys 11y ago
You're putting an expensive functional product in a location that guarantees a much shorter lifespan. Take the same panels and put them on rooftops, empty fields, practically anywhere else reasonable you can think of and you will get lots more electricity out of them because of longer life.
- nkoren 11y ago
  Longer life, better solar angle, less shading from vehicles and surrounding trees and buildings, less deposition of sunlight-blocking dirt and grime, easier access for cleaning and maintenance, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.
dghughes 11y ago
Check out Dave on his EEVblog on YouTube he has a scathing Solar Roadways review. Solar Roadways is a similar concept only they wanted the panels in the road itself not off to the side but the same mistakes apply to both.
wott 11y ago
Because anything S. Royal says is pointless. She's notoriously incompetent on every subject she talks about and she doesn't care about being incompetent, since she believes that her irrelevant condescending babble will hide the fact that her knowledge is non-existent. She constantly dodges questions, and in her case, that's not because she is afraid of showing her true intent, that's simply because she has no idea of the answer. She is as cocky with her associates and staff as she is in public. She is famous for cancelling projects or orientations she supported in the previous years of months. She is is a minister of ecology who does not do a single thing for ecology, on the opposite she cancels what was launched, and it is not even the kind of cancellation that saves money, but it is the kind of cancellation that costs billions. If a company proposes her something shiny, useless but shiny, she will promote it if that means she can be in the light. This stuff here will be probably be abandoned after a few months or years, if it ever works in a satisfying way. In short: Royal is the Queen of bullshit.
- AI_Overlord 11y ago
  Trump's kindred spirit?

Because roads that carry a lot of traffic will need resurfacing before the solar panels have reached their economic break even point. There are a lot of bull-shit renewable energy projects, which is a real pity because there are also a lot of good ones and the bad ones give all of those projects a bad rap.

oblio 11y ago
On the other hand, if they do it piece meal and are willing to back out if the initial phases don't succeed, what better stress test for the material do you want?
Rexxar 11y ago
I don't know if this project is bull-shit or not. But a big part of solar electricity cost is installation cost and emplacement cost, not the solar panel. By using "free" space and installing those panel while building/repairing the road we can save on those two important cost. The question is : is it enough to offset the drawbacks ?
- barney54 11y ago
  No. Areas to put solar panels are not that scarce.
  - marshray 11y ago
    Just put them properly angled and positioned in the highway medians instead. This is not hard people.
neffy 11y ago
What about all the roads (most of them in the suburbs) that don't carry a lot of traffic?
- jacquesm 11y ago
  Go for it. My $0.02: complex shading and frost damage as well as water getting into the system, overload from excess weight vehicles and so on seem to me to make the roads the very worst spot where you'd want to place a solar panel. Unless you place them on the sound barriers in Urban zones (and there you're going to have a reflection issue impacting safety).

torgoguys 11y ago

You're putting an expensive functional product in a location that guarantees a much shorter lifespan. Take the same panels and put them on rooftops, empty fields, practically anywhere else reasonable you can think of and you will get lots more electricity out of them because of longer life.

nkoren 11y ago
Longer life, better solar angle, less shading from vehicles and surrounding trees and buildings, less deposition of sunlight-blocking dirt and grime, easier access for cleaning and maintenance, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.

dghughes 11y ago

Check out Dave on his EEVblog on YouTube he has a scathing Solar Roadways review. Solar Roadways is a similar concept only they wanted the panels in the road itself not off to the side but the same mistakes apply to both.

wott 11y ago

Because anything S. Royal says is pointless. She's notoriously incompetent on every subject she talks about and she doesn't care about being incompetent, since she believes that her irrelevant condescending babble will hide the fact that her knowledge is non-existent. She constantly dodges questions, and in her case, that's not because she is afraid of showing her true intent, that's simply because she has no idea of the answer. She is as cocky with her associates and staff as she is in public. She is famous for cancelling projects or orientations she supported in the previous years of months. She is is a minister of ecology who does not do a single thing for ecology, on the opposite she cancels what was launched, and it is not even the kind of cancellation that saves money, but it is the kind of cancellation that costs billions. If a company proposes her something shiny, useless but shiny, she will promote it if that means she can be in the light. This stuff here will be probably be abandoned after a few months or years, if it ever works in a satisfying way. In short: Royal is the Queen of bullshit.

AI_Overlord 11y ago
Trump's kindred spirit?