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Holy Crap! *New Tech/Gadget Thread*
nickmitch:
--- Quote from: BlackNMild2k1 on June 28, 2014, 09:00:58 AM ---
--- Quote from: nickmitch on June 27, 2014, 01:31:56 PM ---A case against solar roadways
--- End quote ---
Their case against is nothing we haven't discussed before, and it boils down to "it's too expensive" to roll out, repair and to clean.
--- End quote ---
Yeah, but it puts a number on how expensive ($56 Trillion). It also points out the flaw in making the roadway "self cleaning", which brings up the issue of dirt/mud/soot covering up the solar cells.
BlackNMild2k1:
$56 Trillion is a lot, and if they estimate it to be that much now, after labor unions get involved, it will probably be much more. BUT, that's if you were to roll the entire thing out TODAY at today's cost for the cells.
by the time they get a few cities done, manufacturing likely would be cut in half as the process is refined. several years down the line, they may be using cheaper and more efficient cells, and lots of companies may be willing to "sponsor" their territories in favor of marketing and tax breaks, so that could also alleviate cost concerns. But cost will make up for itself over time.
As far as "Self Cleaning" I don't remember what the article said on that specifically, I might reread later, but with all this unlimited power and self driving vehicles, I see no reason why there couldn't be a squad of automated "Street Roombas" roaming around in the dead of night to self reporting obstructed cells doing what they can to scrub them clean for first morning light.
nickmitch:
Even doing "a few cities" could take years. Paving roads is relatively fast because asphalt is easy to make and easy to lay down. If you've seen how long highways take to build, you can probably multiply that by a large factor once we get engineers/electricians involved.
And having "street roombas" clean the roads isn't a great option when you consider having to add the cost of building and maintaining those things. And if you replace every road, you'll need an army of these things to have some everywhere.
Stogi:
Just bump up the efficiency. That article I linked to is the beginning of capturing all the light spectrums including infrared (which is half the energy we get from the sun) without building separate modules, like you'd have to today.
It's already at 7% and it's brand new. Imagine in a decade what it could be.
And furthermore, didn't I already argue the fact that cost shouldn't matter? 53 Trillion sounds exorbant until you realize how ridiculously low that cost is when compared to free energy. All the money in the world or free energy? It's a no brainer.
nickmitch:
That article speaks on "potential", and it it may not work out. Bumping the efficiency isn't one of those things you can just say and it happens with magic. People have been working on that for decades.