TruraBuoy Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 Totally bonkers idea Linky http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnj8Y5PbFTI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ah-so Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 Totally bonkers idea Linky http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnj8Y5PbFTI Thanks for warning us not to waste our time! Despite your warning, I did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvidFan Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 Totally bonkers idea Linky http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnj8Y5PbFTI Pure genius. Since Silica is essentially sand, you take the material that already naturally occured on the ground and in abundence and make the silicon solar cells and glass surface out of it. Miminal environmental impact, maximum effect. Genius. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvidFan Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 Quite like the idea of electronic roads. Power transfer to electric cars via EMI. Self-drive via routing wires, etc. Internet and streaming services, TV, etc. without connectivity loss. Perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.hpc Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 Making all those solar panels and installing them is sure gonna burn a lot of oil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boom Boom Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 Read about this ages ago. Would be a totally decentralised power grid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvidFan Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 Making all those solar panels and installing them is sure gonna burn a lot of oil You need a solar-powered solar cell factory. Solved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkman Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 Totally bonkers idea Linky http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnj8Y5PbFTI What's bonkers about it? It's a great idea. This is what happens when Americans start to plan for alternative energies. I don't think any other country will beat them when it comes to the crunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvidFan Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 (edited) What's bonkers about it? It's a great idea. This is what happens when Americans start to plan for alternative energies. I don't think any other country will beat them when it comes to the crunch. We'll beat them for the next 10 years. But only because we're more prepared. Life will be more uneventful in the UK than anywhere else. Which is nice. Edited: Once the Americans get the bit between their teeth - and they're gonna be hopping mad by 2015/2016 if not a little sooner... they'll come flying back. Edited August 8, 2010 by AvidFan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaevictus Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 my god what a joke.they will get filthy, they will break, they will have no traction when wet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvidFan Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 my god what a joke.they will get filthy, they will break, they will have no traction when wet. Indeed. Rubber residue for example. But then again, who says we'll be driving on rubber tyres? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkman Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 Indeed. Rubber residue for example. But then again, who says we'll be driving on rubber tyres? Tracks? That could transfer the electricity too. They'll be driving round in little trains. Nothing wrong with that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozen_out Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 my god what a joke.they will get filthy, they will break, they will have no traction when wet. One of my favourite examples that I use with students to illustrate the power of science and scientists to make things work is PVC. If I invented PVC today, took it to my boss and said 'I've made this great new material, we'll be able to wrap all our food in it and even make our window frames from it' I'm sure he'd call for the men in white coats when I explained how toxic and sensitive to sunlight it is. But way back when PVC was the only polymer in town the scientists made it work, and if someone has the will they could make this work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redcellar Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 Hilarious. Ever driven in Michigan? Roads are all cracked and split so the circuit would be too. Then there's the traffic jams, nose to tail = no light on the surface, so all the cars stop ! Finally snow even dirt would block the light completely. Wacky idea, shame it's not a serious one otherwise could be fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boom Boom Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 my god what a joke.they will get filthy, they will break, they will have no traction when wet. No. The proposal involves making them out of a special textured glass that would give better grip than tarmac even when wet, andwould be about and be 10x as hard wearing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozen_out Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 Hilarious. Ever driven in Michigan? Roads are all cracked and split so the circuit would be too. Then there's the traffic jams, nose to tail = no light on the surface, so all the cars stop ! Finally snow even dirt would block the light completely. Wacky idea, shame it's not a serious one otherwise could be fun. Thin layer of photocatalyst would solve some of the dirt problem, converting some of the solar collected to heat would solve some of the snow/ice problem. Don't PV cells get hot anyway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snow Birds Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 You have said "bonkers" with no back up logic or reasoning. It makes a lot of sense and needs no new science. It only needs the will and the know how that America is famous for. Their biggest obstacle is to get past the oil industry with its lobbies and influence but if they don't do it then somebody else will. I see nothing against it and everything for it. A system that could provide all the power used by the whole world and you call it bonkers! Good luck to 'em and bring it on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easy2012 Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 Totally bonkers idea Linky http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnj8Y5PbFTI Sounds good idea. The glass road surface can even display stuffs... heem... show some advertisement durign jam as well ? Genius.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oracle Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 (edited) Tracks? That could transfer the electricity too. They'll be driving round in little trains. Nothing wrong with that how will they react in a lightning strike? LED's are nice little gizmos,but applying a couple of million volts of static to them is not going to be terribly healthy. likewise with conductive tyres.....the one benefit rubber has is that it's a good insulator. I suppuse you could put a bloody great rail of (inductive)resistance wire down the middle of the road,pump in a high frequency signal,and have a coupling bar on the underside of the vehicle to pick it up. Edited August 9, 2010 by oracle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oracle Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Hilarious. Ever driven in Michigan? Roads are all cracked and split so the circuit would be too. Then there's the traffic jams, nose to tail = no light on the surface, so all the cars stop ! Finally snow even dirt would block the light completely. Wacky idea, shame it's not a serious one otherwise could be fun. so you don't encase it in glass which is too brittle,you encase it in epoxy! ..plastic based and will have a bit of elasticity in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velgud Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 real world Scalextric FTW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Authoritarian Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 It's a great idea all the while the U.S dept of Transport is subsidising it, but looks totally unworkable in practice. Even at $1000 a tonne, liquid asphalt is many times more cost effective than the solar road that they're designing. Traditional roads are much easier and cheaper to repair too. If solar was a money spinner then it would be in production anyway, complicating technology that is already flawed just compounds the problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libspero Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 One of the alternative energy guru's can shoot me down, but aren't plate glass factories a bit like Aluminium smelters.. as in, they usually have to build a power station next door to them? I think it's an interesting concept, but I still think thin film will be the way to go as it will require less energy to produce and will be cheaper to manufacture. I'm not sure that the engineering challenges and maintenance issues wouldn't be insurmountable for laying electricity collecting glass roads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken_ichikawa Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Singularity hub has some interesting responses. Simply that they have no working prototype yet and depend on certain break throughs for this to be able to work. Also it has no storage capacity. AND on top of that a poster on the hub stated that it's pay back period is longer than the life of the thing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikhail Liebenstein Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Totally bonkers. The dirt is the obvious issue, though there are numerous others. Clearly they thought what man made structure could they stick this on, but failed to think about roofs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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