• Moderators, please send me a PM if you are unable to access mod permissions. Thanks, Habsy.

OT: The F*cking Science Thread

https://imgur.com/gallery/vSeVZ

Words below, gallery above. Very cool.

This is Julie and Scott Brusaw, creators of Solar Roadways. Solar Roadways is a modular paving system of solar panels that can withstand the heaviest of trucks (250,000 pounds). These Solar Road Panels can be installed on roads, parking lots, driveways, sidewalks, bike paths, playgrounds... literally any surface under the sun. They pay for themselves primarily through the generation of electricity, which can power homes and businesses connected via driveways and parking lots.

A nationwide system could produce more clean renewable energy than a country uses as a whole (http://solarroadways.com/numbers.shtml).

EVs will be able to charge with energy from the sun (instead of fossil fuels) from parking lots and driveways and after a roadway system is in place, mutual induction technology will allow for charging while driving.

They have many other features as well, including: heating elements to stay snow/ice free, LEDs to make road lines and signage, and attached Cable Corridor to store and treat stormwater and provide a "home" for power and data cables.

The glass surface has been tested for traction, load testing, and impact resistance testing in civil engineering laboratories around the country, and exceeded all requirements.

Solar Roadways has received two phases of funding from the U.S. Federal Highway Administration for research and development of a paving system that will pay for itself over its lifespan.

Julie and Scott Brusaw, co-inventors and co-founders of Solar Roadways. Scott is an electrical engineer (MSEE) with over 20 years of industry experience.
Click to expand...
 
I'm not sure how that would work in the long term...though, you have to start somewhere. Neat idea. I'd like to see roofing like this.
 
Habspatrol said:
Very awesome... it's coming eventually. Hope to see it in my lifetime.
Click to expand...

I'm really interested to see how it would hold up to Canadian winters, as well as the maintenance costs. The roads in the GTA take an absolute beating and cost a fortune to fix after the winter.
 
Deckie007 said:
I'm really interested to see how it would hold up to Canadian winters, as well as the maintenance costs. The roads in the GTA take an absolute beating and cost a fortune to fix after the winter.
Click to expand...

They'd definitely have to be tough.

My thought was that they'd be able to be heated to help with the ice issue.
 
Habspatrol said:
They'd definitely have to be tough.

My thought was that they'd be able to be heated to help with the ice issue.
Click to expand...

The article notes heating elements to stay snow and ice free so i think they got it covered.

In that case the winters may not be that big of an issue.

Its a brilliant idea, be interesting to see who would ever consider starting it with the significant capital investment.
 
The article notes heating elements to stay snow and ice free so i think they got it covered.

In that case the winters may not be that big of an issue.
Click to expand...

I can't imagine how the installation process would work. Do you leave the heat on all winter? You can't just turn it on when it snows, as going from a cold road to warm would make the surface buckle all over the place. I see the same problem on a hot summer day. How do you stop the road from"travelling" with the flow of traffic. I'd really like to see how they plan on holding this stuff down.
 
Yeah that isn't going to work in a Canadian environment. Way too many issues with frost heaving, sink holes, etc. Be a fortune just to keep it running. Plus our high latitude isn't conductive to decent solar return.

Be cool for southern climates though...parking lots seem like the logical first step.
 
Not to mention that, like most electronics, I suspect they'd start having some serious issues once the thermometer plunged past -20.
 
Link

We all know about Google Fiber, but I had no idea about Chattanooga, TN and their taxpayer owner Gigabit internet.

“Gig City,” as Chattanooga is sometimes called, has what city officials and analysts say was the first and fastest — and now one of the least expensive — high-speed Internet services in the United States. For less than $70 a month, consumers enjoy an ultrahigh-speed fiber-optic connection that transfers data at one gigabit per second. That is 50 times the average speed for homes in the rest of the country, and just as rapid as service in Hong Kong, which has the fastest Internet in the world.
Click to expand...
 
New Dual Carbon Battery. Charge a Nissan Leaf in 12 minutes.

[video=youtube;OJwZ9uEpJOo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJwZ9uEpJOo[/video]
 
Bleedsblue&white said:
Heads up people who live outside the ambient glow of a city...tonight is the Camelopardalid meteor shower, and it's supposed to be a doozy, with the possibility of moon impacts.
I'm going to set up the tripod and long exposure, hope for the best.

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/camelopardalid-meteor-shower-could-bring-us-spectacular-fireballs-and-pepper-the-moon-with-impacts-too/28086/
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up... may have to take the wife for a romantic drive.
 
I'd been planning to watch it but got my days mixed up, from the sounds of things didn't miss too much though...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top