Solar roadways in Davis Square

[leiran]

I just watched this video about Solar Roadways, and immediately thought "Why isn't Somerville working on this?" Davis Square would be an amazing place for this kind of technology, though there may be legitimate reasons why it isn't appropriate. I'm curious to hear the perspectives people in this community about this type of project: the pitfalls, the unintended consequences, etc. On the surface, though, this seems absolutely amazing.

http://news.yahoo.com/solar-roadways-210149010.html

Comments

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

The rebuttal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H901KdXgHs4

Beware, this guy is *politically* kind of, shall we say, dubious, as evidenced by some of his other videos, but he seems to have a good grasp of the science and economics involved.

More math from someone who might provoke less of a political reaction from most of DSLJ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obS6TUVSZds

TL;DW: The designers of SOLAR FREAKIN' ROADWAYS are brilliant electronics engineers and designers who have failed to take into account the engineering and economic realities of roads and road surfaces as well as long-distance electrical transmission.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

Considering the excessive number of rooftops not being put to any use in Somerville (other than being a roof), it would be much cheaper and more effective to simply put solar there--and even that's been too expensive and complicated a process to happen at any decent scale. Davis roadways are shaded by buildings, traffic jams, and the sad reality of our geography too much of the time.

Tangential

[beinneighe.livejournal.com]

Not directly related, but might be of interest to anyone who digs transportation + energy technology:

"Glow in the Dark Road Unveiled in the Netherlands": http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27021291

They immediately hit a snag due to moisture sensitivity: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27187827

Why Davis?

[rmd.livejournal.com]

Technical feasibility aside, Davis would seem to be the worst place to do this - narrow streets with buildings all around. Someplace like chunks of the gateway center parking lot, with acres of flat areas that get sun all day would be more efficient for a better ROI.

Re: Why Davis?

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

And even then, why not instead build shade roofs for the parking lot that are made of solar panels. Seems much simpler and cheaper.

Re: Why Davis?

[kelkyag]

Nicer for parking, too -- shade in summer, less plowing in winter.

Re: Why Davis?

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Yeah, honestly, the road thing just feels so obviously suboptimal in so many ways, I don't really understand everyone going crazy over it.

RE: Re: Why Davis?

[ifotismeni]

yep - i am honestly surprised that we don't see a lot of these around here. i saw a number of them in england.

[ceo]

This proposal makes no sense. Of all the available flat surfaces to put solar panels on, roads strike me as the worst possible choice by a significant margin. Just to start with, a) worn-off tire rubber will make them more or less opaque in short order, and b) wet glass (or transparent plastic) is incredibly slippery no matter how you texture it.

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

As someone said, installing solar panels as a roadway is "optimized to maximize cost": http://jalopnik.com/why-the-solar-roadway-is-a-terrible-idea-1582519375

[teko.livejournal.com]

Given that the creators of Solar Roadways are starting their first large-scale real-world test (creating a usable parking lot), I think that theorizing about what cars MIGHT do to a product that none of us have actually used is kinda silly. It's a great concept and I hope that it works the way they say it will, and I'm sure that testing it with actual roadways and parking lots will demonstrate what works and what doesn't.