Is this the future?

[Egnever]

Last edited Fri May 23, 2014, 03:28 AM - Edit history (1)

I give you solar freaking roadways!

This one gives a little more detail.

Looks promising.

[world wide wally]

1. Now there's a better mousetrap!

Brilliant!

[2naSalit]

2. It looks like it could

be a good investment... if only we can make it happen.

[newfie11]

3. It would be great

Also all lots if jobs.

[Jamaal510]

4. 1:50-1:54

Much of Humboldt County could really use this feature. I stay near HSU during the semester, and I get creeped out by how dark some of the streets around the city get at night. As I walk through some of the neighborhoods, I think about running into something I don't exactly want to see (whether it's a wild animal or something else).

[Egnever]

6. I added a second vid

They have some interesting ideas for that sort of thing.

[yuiyoshida]

5. What a wonderful idea.

It would be awesome.. the possibilities.

[kentauros]

7. Whereas I imagine fewer roads and vehicles needed.

That is, the majority of office jobs don't need to be done in a distant office (and more people are having things delivered versus shopping in person.) I'd much rather see free/low-cost broadband to everyone, like the kind that civilized countries have. And if people want to keep moving further and further from the cities for whatever their reasoning, they could, and still be at work downtown every morning without leaving their country life reality.

Yes, this is a great idea, but realisitically, it would be many decades before even all of the Interstates alone were covered. Plus, they will still need a stable surface upon which to sit, and if your current road surface isn't in the best of condition, it's going to need repair before you can make this futuristic surface viable.

I do question whether pilots would trust a landing strip made out of these tiles. What's their structural strength, extended durability, and ability to withstand the loads put upon them when a fully loaded 747 or Airbus touches down?

How do they do in floods, like we have along the coasts? For that matter, how good is their grip in heavy rain versus the current grooved surfaces modern concrete roads have? (A technique developed by NASA for landing strips.) Yes, I saw the detail of the surface, but I'm more concerned with their ability to channel water when it's coming down in torrents measured in inches per hour.

I would think, too, that in colder climates even if you melt the snow and ice off of the surface, you'll still need some kind of insulated pipes to get it far enough away from the heated surface so it doesn't back up at the edges because it just refroze again

How loud is the noise generated by your tires on a surface like this, dry or wet?

[Egnever]

11. Yup lots of questions

The second video speaks a little bit to some of the questions you raised but clearly there are some really big hurdles.

Still pretty cool and they claim covering the roads with these would produce 3 times the energy we consume. That would completely change our entire economy.

[kentauros]

15. The second video answers some things, but not the ones

that could implement this. While they may have done some good engineering so far, too much is either left unsaid or not done. The first video is a great promo ad, but like almost all promo ads, it simply raises more questions than it answers.

I would like to see it implemented. I'd just be happier if instead of the typical "Look How Awesome This Is!!1!" ad campaign that it detailed the issues they laud it for. I truly would like to know how they do in heavy rain and flood situations, because it looks like those bumps they put on the second design are too far apart to channel water away from the road surface. Not to mention that a hex-pattern doesn't allow for the quickest draining, unlike straight channels. Pooling water contributes to hydroplaning, an issue we have in coastal areas instead of icy roads.

[littlemissmartypants]

8. I hope so. nt

[Live and Learn]

9. That is really cool. nt

[DontTreadOnMe]

10. Imagine... CEOs of Oil Companies watching their stocks plummet

I would think just the fact that you do not have to plow snow makes them economically feasible in the Northeast, maybe not for highways, but surely for driveways, walkways and malls.

[SoapBox]

12. Dickless Cheney's secret energy meeting types, won't stand for it...

Unless they can control it.

But what a COOL idea.

[Egnever]

14. it would likely get a lot of push back

But they did get starter funding from the government so maybe...

[wandy]

13. The sad thing is that you can bet that by the time..........

the first small city installs this for even the modest purposes of powering the down street lamps.

ALEC will have provided cookie cutter legislation baning it's use!