Roads of the future - Interesting

[Abe]

This is about making a solar highway.
Very interesting, watched it twice, so far.

http://www.wimp.com/solarhighways/

Cheers
Dave

[ST2UP]

That is seriously cool.....the road/panel surface needed to be devised could be interesting.

Will keep following this one

Tks for posting Dave

Cheers

[BigTed]

That's very cool. Here in Oz our roads are all asfalt, while in the US they're either asfalt or concrete. Concrete is meant to last a lot longer and require much less maintenance, but costs a lot more. If the guy in the video is right (and probably is), the cost of asfalt will go up making it more attactive to build concrete (in the US atleast) - unless they start using bio-fuels, etc. Although, the flying car might make this redundant.

I love the multi-function of the road: not just a solar collector, but pressure-sensitive, signage and data transmission too. You can imagine the lines on the roads themselves will one day be lit and not painted, dynamically changing to suit the conditions of the minute. How about the automatic "display" of a  motorcycle lane in between cars when a bike is detected!... Yeah!

I guess the solar road is several times (if not 100s or 1000s) more costly. However, manufacturing costs will come down eventually. We also have to consider the environmental cost of manfuctuing. I understand concrete is nasty and produces lots of pollutants in the process, and production of electronics has a similar nasty by-product.

Regardless, it's amazing what these Sheldon Coopers keep coming up with. Thanks for the post Dave.

[STeveo]

That is a top idea! I have often thought about putting water pipes under the tar and using the heat generated some how. We all know how hot tar gets in summer (it melts here) so why not use it to make electricity.
Two problems I can see are 1; the base needed to support the glass panels, 2; the oil companies will not want to let go of their mega profits.
Great start, hope it goes further.

 

[Abe]

Gentlemen, some of your questions are answered in the clip.  That's why I watched it twice, now four times.

The road will also attach/connect you with electricity/internet etc. etc.

It's interesting that people are thinking outside the square that we live in.

Thanks for your replies, as it shows that some people are interested in some form.

Cheers
Dave

[ruSTyEB]

Cool idea, but how slippery will the road be with a little oil and a sprinkle of rain?

[Streak]

Very clever idea, I am sure the smarter people than us will figure out how to make it behave properly, but a damn good idea, especially the power generating idea...

[Skip]

Looks like a perfect idea for roof construction. Why bother with a few panels on a roof. Why not make the complete roof out of them.

[Biggles]

I figured we had to run out of asphalt sometime soon.  And as they say, concrete has limitations.
However there are vast reserves of silica available to make glass- still recognising it takes a fair bit of energy to make these "super glasses".  The idea of intelligent roads is very clever.  I just wonder what the lifespan of an LED is.  If they're embedded in the road, hermetically sealed as he said, they can't be easily replaced.  I do see LEDs out in traffic light arrays and tail lights, for example.