Help me understand the logic behind taking a PV and stepping on it in the worst possible way, leaving dirt , rubber etc, when every PV that is exposed only to the open air needs regular cleaning / maintainance. And its being frequently under the shade of cars
The first solar road has turned out to be a disappointing failure
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Re: The first solar road has turned out to be a disappointing failure
#12Solar roads seem like a really cool technology. Like, if they worked great and were affordable and everything, then awesome!
But, practically speaking, they seem to violate the [single responsibility principle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_responsibility_principl...). By coupling a solar panel to a road, we're forcing the physical entity to comply with competing objectives.
Seems like the future's prone to be different, anyway. For example, how long are we going to really need roads that're driven over at-random like today? Seems like self-driving cars could be designed-and-programmed to drive over just specific parts of the road meant to handle their weight, while the gaps between those load-bearing parts can have solar panels.
Re: The first solar road has turned out to be a disappointing failure
#13“Cracks have appeared, and in 2018, part of the road had to be demolished due to damage from wear and tear.” as opposed to regular roads which never crack “the road was only producing half of the expected energy” - great, so just 2 km of a solar road could power the streetlights of an entire city the size of Tourouvre, 3700 people. We shouldn’t raise the white flag so quickly. I think we need a second iteration at le…
> “Cracks have appeared, and in 2018, part of the road had to be demolished due to damage from wear and tear.” as opposed to regular roads which never crack Regular roads don't fall apart in 18 months, they take 18 years (or longer) to do so.
Touche, a good point, but a first attempt is not usually reliable. I think we should learn more about what could be done different? Should instead all bike lanes be made of solar “panels” because the wights is all yet they would cover a large surface if they were to cover the whole city? How does a traveled road get covered in leaves?
Re: The first solar road has turned out to be a disappointing failure
#14Anyone who bothered doing the math knew this was a horrible idea from the very start. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=obS6TUVSZds
For those who don't watch him, EEVBlog has had excellent videos on the feasibility of solar roadways.
To summarize his videos: solar roadways were never feasible even in theory with quick back-of-the-envelope calculations and all of the known solar roadways projects in the world have failed or are nearing failure.
Re: The first solar road has turned out to be a disappointing failure
#15“Cracks have appeared, and in 2018, part of the road had to be demolished due to damage from wear and tear.” as opposed to regular roads which never crack “the road was only producing half of the expected energy” - great, so just 2 km of a solar road could power the streetlights of an entire city the size of Tourouvre, 3700 people. We shouldn’t raise the white flag so quickly. I think we need a second iteration at le…
> “Cracks have appeared, and in 2018, part of the road had to be demolished due to damage from wear and tear.” as opposed to regular roads which never crack Regular roads don't fall apart in 18 months, they take 18 years (or longer) to do so.
> Regular roads don't fall apart in 18 months, they take 18 years (or longer) to do so.
Your county council evidently uses better contractors than mine!
Re: The first solar road has turned out to be a disappointing failure
#16Why wasn't that strip of land right by the road converted into a solar strip instead? It looks like that shoulder has almost as much physical area to it and would take a lot less wear and tear. I never understood this idea to begin with.
I think the idea was to take advantage of land that cannot be used otherwise.
Re: The first solar road has turned out to be a disappointing failure
#17As was foretold. This is all very, very simple.
Solar panels above heavy vehicle traffic: Good Idea.
Solar panels below heavy vehicle traffic: Bad Idea.
If you want to solar panel anything more heavy duty than a bike path, make a roof.
Re: The first solar road has turned out to be a disappointing failure
#18“Cracks have appeared, and in 2018, part of the road had to be demolished due to damage from wear and tear.” as opposed to regular roads which never crack “the road was only producing half of the expected energy” - great, so just 2 km of a solar road could power the streetlights of an entire city the size of Tourouvre, 3700 people. We shouldn’t raise the white flag so quickly. I think we need a second iteration at le…
Cracks don't cause a regular road to fail entirely, while if a solar panel cracks in half, it will most likely stop working.
Also I don't see how solar roads make any sense when there is so much unused roof space and parking lots. Putting panels over a parking lot is much easier since you don't have to build them to withstand many-tonne automobiles, they will always be in full sunlight instead of being covered by dirt and vehicles, and they can be angled towards the sun. Even in theory, I think solar roads are a failure.
Re: The first solar road has turned out to be a disappointing failure
#19This article from 4 days ago says a solar road in the Netherlands is doing well, so it seems like the French road is just a bad design? I don’t know if they are in fact different hardware: https://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-first-solar-road-turn...
The one in the Netherlands seems to be a 70m solar cycle lane. Cars will destroy a surface a lot faster than bikes. Maybe (dedicated) bike lanes would be a good place to start with this.
Re: The first solar road has turned out to be a disappointing failure
#20“Cracks have appeared, and in 2018, part of the road had to be demolished due to damage from wear and tear.” as opposed to regular roads which never crack “the road was only producing half of the expected energy” - great, so just 2 km of a solar road could power the streetlights of an entire city the size of Tourouvre, 3700 people. We shouldn’t raise the white flag so quickly. I think we need a second iteration at le…
Cracks don't cause a regular road to fail entirely, while if a solar panel cracks in half, it will most likely stop working. Also I don't see how solar roads make any sense when there is so much unused roof space and parking lots. Putting panels over a parking lot is much easier since you don't have to build them to withstand many-tonne automobiles, they will always be in full sunlight instead of being covered by dir…
i stand corrected. But why not use them for bike lanes or parking lots indeed?