Why in the weepin creepin jesus are we not funding this?!?!?

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  • HeadlessRoland

    Shooter
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    1   0   0
    Aug 8, 2011
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    This is the dumbest idea I've heard of in a long time. Asphalt is cheap. Photovoltaic cells are not. They are also super inefficient and energy-negative. It takes years of operation for a solar cell to offset the energy required to create it. This is pointless and expensive, which makes it much like most other taxpayer-funded endeavors, with the sole exception of being perhaps even more wasteful and pointless and expensive than usual.
     

    smokingman

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    2   0   0
    Nov 11, 2008
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    Indiana
    I imagine the surface has a decent grip for tires.So it will naturally build up rubber on the surface.How well will they perform then?

    It may be a decent idea for some private parking lot if you want to invest in it,but for public roads I think it would be a HUGE waste of money.
     

    pudly

    Grandmaster
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    35   0   0
    Nov 12, 2008
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    Undisclosed
    Feel free to contribute. The link to Indiegogo is right on that YouTube page. I really doubt this is going to scale nearly as well as asphalt/concrete roads. The cost of glass, silver, electronics, etc. needed to make this work will be a killer. It would be great if it comes anywhere near close to what the promotional video implies, but they offer no facts to indicate that this will ever be practical. Asphalt and concrete are used because they are available in large quantities and are cheap and durable. How will this technology hold up to real cold, freezing/thawing, heavy trucks, etc, etc?

    Nice to see this explored, but I'd like to see a whole LOT more before I was convinced it would be a viable solution for large scale deployment.
     

    Leo

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    30   0   0
    Mar 3, 2011
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    Lafayette, IN
    During this last winter, I didn't see the pavement because of ice and snow for several months, at least in Tippecanoe county. That would kind of put a dampener on the annual output of power. The impact of snow plows will likely be pretty tough also.

    There are more questions than answers, but what the heck, the taxpayers have plenty of money to subsidize this feel good project.
     

    Gluemanz28

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    29   0   0
    Mar 4, 2013
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    Elkhart County
    I had a potential customer in Santa Fe, NM that was building a subdivision with a natural gas generator that would feed the houses with electricity and the hot water that was created from cooling the generator would be used for heat and replace the water heater. He was in a battle with the municipal electric company because the generator would not supply enough power during peak times so they would need to be hooked to the grid. During off peak hours the generator would supply more than needed for the subdivision and would cause the meeter to spin backwards lowering the kilowatts on the meter and what you would be charged for.

    The Electric company wanted two separate meters one for incoming and one for outgoing. They would allow a credit for incoming Kilowatts but it was at less than half. His argument was a kilowatt is a kilowatt.

    Things never did work out for us to do business together but he was a smart guy that had a concept I thought intriguing. The Hot Water plumbing would have been run through out the subdivision in a six inch pipe filled with black foam insulation with a one inch pipe in the center with SS fittings.

    This was fifteen years ago and I'm sure things have changed a lot. I know my meter at my house was changed from the spinning disk to a digital unit.
     

    CHCRandy

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    5   0   0
    Feb 16, 2013
    3,699
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    Hendricks County
    This is the dumbest idea I've heard of in a long time. Asphalt is cheap. Photovoltaic cells are not. They are also super inefficient and energy-negative. It takes years of operation for a solar cell to offset the energy required to create it. This is pointless and expensive, which makes it much like most other taxpayer-funded endeavors, with the sole exception of being perhaps even more wasteful and pointless and expensive than usual.

    What ^ said
     

    BehindBlueI's

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    29   0   0
    Oct 3, 2012
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    So, let's factor in the cost of manufacturing, the cost of upkeep, the cost of infrastructure, and then how cheap is it?

    How does it hold up to snow plows? Salt? Floods?

    Solar freaking rooftops aren't economically viable yet, and ain't nobody driving on those.
     

    rockhopper46038

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    89   0   0
    May 4, 2010
    6,742
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    Fishers
    I've been looking at solar power for years now at my place. I have an optimal roofline and lots of area for it and I STILL can't make it make economic sense.
     

    ModernGunner

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    Jan 29, 2010
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    Well, it's not the dumbest idea I've seen, but it's close, LOL.

    Typical leftie lunacy. It's all 'unicorns and rainbows' for those who live in 'La-La Land'. Which is cute and fine, and it's wonderful to dream about lollipops and cotton candy. But somewhere along the way... BAM!, the real world comes along and bashes the lollipop with a sledgehammer, LOL.
     

    jamil

    code ho
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    0   0   0
    Jul 17, 2011
    60,148
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    Gtown-ish
    Well, it's not the dumbest idea I've seen, but it's close, LOL.

    Typical leftie lunacy. It's all 'unicorns and rainbows' for those who live in 'La-La Land'. Which is cute and fine, and it's wonderful to dream about lollipops and cotton candy. But somewhere along the way... BAM!, the real world comes along and bashes the lollipop with a sledgehammer, LOL.

    It's a cool idea...if it could actually work and the panels were cheap.
     

    steveh_131

    Grandmaster
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    0   0   0
    Mar 3, 2009
    10,046
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    Porter County
    here's what you do, guys.

    hook up en electric motor.. to a generator...

    listen, guys. so then you hook the generator

    back to the motor

    boom. perpetual motion.
     

    chezuki

    Human
    Rating - 100%
    48   0   0
    Mar 18, 2009
    34,152
    113
    Behind Bars
    here's what you do, guys.

    hook up en electric motor.. to a generator...

    listen, guys. so then you hook the generator

    back to the motor

    boom. perpetual motion.
    Holy ****!!! Here you go! :laugh:

    20131011153017!Nobel_Prize.png
     

    HeadlessRoland

    Shooter
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    1   0   0
    Aug 8, 2011
    3,521
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    In the dark
    wait till you hear my ideas about cold fusion. I figured it out in a cave while i was trying to build a missile from refrigerator parts

    You wouldn't believe how absolutely possible this is. It won't go very far, but you could absolutely turn a refrigerator into a small missile with a few tools. People make rockets that will travel a thousand feet just out of cardboard and balsa wood. With some real materials and some real fuel, you could do even better. Steve H: INGO's Wernher von Braun! Do share the test results here, won't you?

    At any rate, it's an idea ten thousand times better than trying to use solar panels as roadways.
     
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