Slashdot Mirror
Solar Roadways Get DoT Funding
mikee805 writes "Solar Roadways, a project to replace over 25,000 square miles of road in the US with solar panels you can drive on, just received $100,000 in funding from the Department of Transportation for the first 12ft-by-12ft prototype panel. Each panel consists of three layers: a base layer with data and power cables running through it, an electronics layer with an array of LEDs, solar collectors and capacitors, and finally the glass road surface. With data and power cables, the solar roadway has the potential to replace some of our aging infrastructure. With only 15% efficiency, 25,000 square miles of solar roadways could produce three times what the US uses annually in energy. The building costs are estimated to be competitive with traditional roads, and the solar roads would heat themselves in the winter to keep snow from accumulating."
P.S.
Other idiots include the silk-suited people in Congress who think Fuel Cell Cars "run on water" and therefore all we need to do is buy a bunch of them, and all our problems will be solved! (rolls eyes) No Mr. and Mrs. Congress, fuel cells do not run on water. They run on hydrogen. Please show me where we can drill a well and find a bunch of hydrogen?
What's that? You don't know? Well neither do I. Your FC Car won't go anywhere without H fuel. Yes I know it's true that we can make hydrogen from oil or natural gas, but why??? We can burn oil/ng in the cars we already have, so what's the point of switching to new tech that still requires fossil fuels to run? Hmmmm.
Looks like FC cars are not the "miracle" you were looking for after all Congress,
just like computerized voting did not magically fix the balloting problems.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall