solar bike path

[wc1934]

I love reading about new technologies - amazing!

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/11/10/363023227/solar-bike-path-opens-this-week-in-the-netherlands

[tumbler]

Pretty cool. I like the idea of building bike paths as test roads.

[Louis]

Somebody needs to tell Mitch McConnell so he can put a stop to it. That's two "green" initiatives rolled into one project. We can't have anymore of that, even though it's on the other side of the Atlantic - it might give folks over here the wrong idea.

[Big-d]

yes, interesting new technology application :)

[93legendti]

AWESOME idea. You take an expensive, inefficient technology and make it more inefficient by using it as a road that can't be oriented towards the sun and is partially obscured by riders whenever it is used:

$3.7 million to meet the yearly electrical needs of how many homes? My large house's electrical needs cost less than $4,000/year. I can see why people are so enthused.

For the fans, take your life savings and adopt a stretch of road. Brilliant:


"The section of the path that's opening this week is some 230 feet long...

The researchers say the portion of the path that's opening Wednesday could meet the electrical demands of two or three houses for a year.

Because they lie flat instead of being angled to take optimal advantage of the sun, the path's panels will produce about 30 percent less power than similar panels might produce on a rooftop. But the researchers also note that with around 87,000 miles of roadways, Holland's total road surface area is "significantly larger" than that of rooftops that could host solar panels.

SolaRoad is a collaboration led by the research group TNO and the government of the province of North Holland. You can read more about its technical aspects at the Phys Org site, which reports that most of the $3.7 million cost was paid by the local authority.

This isn't the only project that tries to integrate electricity into roadways. In the U.S., an Indiegogo campaign for the Idaho-based Solar Roadways project raised $2.2 million earlier this year to pursue a more elaborate vision. It would integrate features such as LED lights and heating elements into structurally engineered road panels, as CNN reported in August."

Germany gave up on solar 2 years ago:

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/germanys-siemens-give-solar-energy-business

[oldpotatoe]

AWESOME idea. You take an expensive, inefficient technology and make it more inefficient by using it as a road that can't be oriented towards the sun and is partially obscured by riders whenever it is used:

$3.7 million to meet the yearly electrical needs of how many homes? My large house's electrical needs cost less than $4,000/year. I can see why people are so enthused.

For the fans, take your life savings and adopt a stretch of road. Brilliant:


"The section of the path that's opening this week is some 230 feet long...

The researchers say the portion of the path that's opening Wednesday could meet the electrical demands of two or three houses for a year.

Because they lie flat instead of being angled to take optimal advantage of the sun, the path's panels will produce about 30 percent less power than similar panels might produce on a rooftop. But the researchers also note that with around 87,000 miles of roadways, Holland's total road surface area is "significantly larger" than that of rooftops that could host solar panels.

SolaRoad is a collaboration led by the research group TNO and the government of the province of North Holland. You can read more about its technical aspects at the Phys Org site, which reports that most of the $3.7 million cost was paid by the local authority.

This isn't the only project that tries to integrate electricity into roadways. In the U.S., an Indiegogo campaign for the Idaho-based Solar Roadways project raised $2.2 million earlier this year to pursue a more elaborate vision. It would integrate features such as LED lights and heating elements into structurally engineered road panels, as CNN reported in August."

Germany gave up on solar 2 years ago:

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/germanys-siemens-give-solar-energy-business

It's all about $. Unless another, cheaper way to make electricity is found, fossil fuels are gonna be burned to make it. Until there is some sort of crisis, then the least of the people's problems will be your electric bill. People generally won't do anything, if it costs more, cuz it's a good idea. Utility lobbyists won't allow new homes to all have roof top solar, amortized over 30 years, even if it is a good idea. To many bribes to polititians, like a few from Kentucky.

[rain dogs]

Germany gave up on solar 2 years ago:


Huh? Germany did? :confused: Where'd you read that? Not likely. Seimens is selling their solar division to focus on other renewables and light rail.

Germany as a country has 31% of power coming from renewables annually. They've had periods as high as 74% of the entire load being powered on renewables. Yes, tens of billions of kilowatt-hours.

In 2012, Germany produced 29660 Gwh of solar (PV) power.

Yeah, Germany just went and gave up...:rolleyes:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-08-14/germany-reaches-new-levels-of-greendom-gets-31-percent-of-its-electricity-from-renewables
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/13/3436923/germany-energy-records/

[flydhest]

So, I don't know about Germany solar power, but I find myself agreeing with what I think us the thrust of Adam's point. Take the money spent on a short stretch of bike path $3.7 million, use that to insulate and caulk a couple hundred thousand homes and see which approach reduces carbon footprint more.

[Mark McM]

Think of this project as a proof-of-concept. Or more appropriately, proof-of-failed-concept.

[Louis]

Take the money spent on a short stretch of bike path $3.7 million, use that to insulate and caulk a couple hundred thousand homes and see which approach reduces carbon footprint more.

If we only picked the low-hanging fruit, technology wouldn't advance very far. (to mix a few metaphors)

[Mark McM]

If we only picked the low-hanging fruit, technology wouldn't advance very far. (to mix a few metaphors)

Well, necessity is the mother of invention. But there is no necessity for solar powered bike paths when we have so much roof space available for more efficient solar power production.

[tumbler]

This was a collaboration between a research group and the government. Governments often fund large, long-shot, research projects intended for public benefit. Of course no one needs a solar powered bike path today. No one needed the internet when it was first developed (also through government-funded research).

I'm not saying governments don't waste money... they do, a lot of it. Just that we should see this for what is it, which is research and proof-of-concept for something that could be transformative decades from now, and not simply a short, expensive bike lane.

[jh_on_the_cape]

This. Nothing makes sense financially as a prototype. That is what research if for, typically government funded. Which many find a 'waste of money', then go use a GPS or the internet or nuclear power or... list goes on and on.

But I do think a solar panel bike path is a longshot.

This was a collaboration between a research group and the government. Governments often fund large, long-shot, research projects intended for public benefit. Of course no one needs a solar powered bike path today. No one needed the internet when it was first developed (also through government-funded research).

I'm not saying governments don't waste money... they do, a lot of it. Just that we should see this for what is it, which is research and proof-of-concept for something that could be transformative decades from now, and not simply a short, expensive bike lane.