This is one of those ideas that’s just constantly claimed and constantly rebuked as unrealistic and not feasible
World’s highways could host 52.3 billion solar panels, say researchers
Submitted 2 months ago by schizoidman@lemm.ee to energy@slrpnk.net
Comments
geophysicist@discuss.tchncs.de 2 months ago
sonori@beehaw.org 2 months ago
To be fair, at least in this case it’s looking into putting the panels on a structure above the road instead of the more commonly suggested drive on panel variation. Still pretty unnecessary for most of the world as spare land is something that’s more abundant, but it might be relevant for more space constrained nations and islands where open fields are more expensive than already government owned roadway.
jimmy90@lemmy.world 2 months ago
linky?
Angry_Autist@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I’m not a fan of the guy so if you want his channel you need to search youtube but thunderf00t did a pretty decent if heavily sarcastic video, maybe 2, on why current solar panel roads are ridiculously stupid.
Angry_Autist@lemmy.world 2 months ago
No no NO no No nO NO. This has been trotted out so many times and every time it fails.
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Embedded panels do not work it has been tested, even light traffic damages and reduces their absorption capacity.
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Raised panels do not work in large areas because the oily dirt from the road reduces absorption and requires constant maintenance.
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Large amounts of valuable equipment easily accessible on the side of the road becomes targets for thieves.
So much human time and energy is wasted on failed ideas.
morphballganon@lemmy.world 2 months ago
If you read the post you would know it’s suggesting a completely different idea than the one you just refuted.
OVER the road and IN the road are not the same thing.
Angry_Autist@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Is this really what the internet has come to? What a fucking disappointment.
evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world 2 months ago
The idea works great if you stop allowing cars the utilize the space
Angry_Autist@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I would LOVE for America to design and build walkable cities, I would LOVE to ditch my car forever and rely on a robust public transportation system. I HATE driving, and the pollution cars make and YES your suggestion would be a GREAT solution.
Turn 40% of a cities roads into walkable lanes with solar panels. That fixes the ambient dust grease problem, provides significant footage for panels, and makes the environment and social atmosphere more pleasant.
I am fully all for your idea and would donate to any organization that has the capacity and interest to get it done.
Cities are for people, not for cars.
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slazer2au@lemmy.world 2 months ago
explores the potential to install solar panels above highways and major roads.
Oh thank god they use that option not replace the road with those horrid solar cells that underperformed in every test.
lnxtx@feddit.nl 2 months ago
SOLAR, FREAKING, ROADWAYS!
livingcoder@programming.dev 2 months ago
So long as they’re not trying to put solar panels literally in the road but instead as coverage above the road (blocking rain, snow, sun, etc.) then that sounds great.
ocassionallyaduck@lemmy.world 2 months ago
This just in: deserts and parking lots exist and aren’t swarmed by high speed traffic.
morphballganon@lemmy.world 2 months ago
The benefits of covering highways are more immediately visible (provide shade to cool drivers and reduce blinding by the sun).
I agree those other places have benefits.
Covering deserts will help cool them and reduce evaporation of moisture on the surface, possibly restoring the livability of a more diverse ecosystem. However, panels in the desert get dusty quickly, don’t get cleaned by rain often, and would require water be brought in to clean them.
Covering parking lots would help cool cars, but I fear panels would be prime targets for vandalism.
ocassionallyaduck@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Everything has a drawback, but covering roads and highways panels would be frequently equally as prone to damage ( every time there is a downed tree or fender bender). As for dust, the exhaust fumes of 100,000s of vechiles adds up, and the panels cannot simply be hit with compressed air. The soot sticks to surfaces.
Its nice in theory but actually covering highways in panels would make them disgusting choked tunnels and ruin the panels. Covering the highways at all even with a light canvas to block sun would be prohibitively difficult to make both effective and maintainable.
bestagon@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Deserts have their own unique ecosystems. I don’t think anyone’s qualified in deciding we need to go turning them into arable land
TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I mean. That’s dirt cheap in the grand scheme of things.
Angry_Autist@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Not really, embedded panels crack constantly and need replacement.
Lifted panels get covered in dust and oil and basically need constant cleaning, plus they get stolen at an alarming rate.
PlzGivHugs@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
In comparison to extinction? Yes. In comparison to every other green option including other implementions of solar? No.
Asafum@feddit.nl 2 months ago
The world at large? Sure.
The US? Fuck no commie eco fascist! That’s public money we could be throwing at Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Boeing!
TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 2 months ago
This sort of solution is, in reality, just another way for us not to address the root of the problem, which is that car-centric infrastructure is orders of magnitude worse for the environment and even just global warming than whatever benefit solar roadway roofs could provide.
TL;DR: !fuckcars@lemmy.world
evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Yeah, this is literally just highlighting the huge amount of land dedicated to cars. People complain about the space used by solar, but a small subset of roads take up as much space as a solar farm that could provide the majority of our energy.