Dave debunks the Solar Roadways project that generated over $2.1M on Indiegogo, as well as almost another million dollars in US government funding.
PART 2 HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOZBrHqTJk4
In this video Dave does the solar generation calculations to see if this system is viable from an energy generation viewpoint, and also how much power the LED's might typically consume.
What are the losses in a typical practical system like this?
Are Solar Freakin Roadways feasible?, or just pie-in-the-sky rubbish?
This debunking covers only a couple of the likely dozens of major technical issues with this concept.
The main take-away form this video is that these solar roadways panels will never EVER be economically viable, and the solar payback is simply comical. EVen if they can meet ann the ridiculously high demands on a physical roadway.
Also, no amount of research will EVER make this a viable idea. You can't just take existing solar technology (which is borderline viable at best of times) and put it in the most hostile physical environment possible, least efficient environment possible, and most costly environment possible and expect it to be viable. It won't be viable, ever.
Datasheets & Links:
http://www.solarroadways.com
Sunpower E18 Solar Panels: http://hvce.com/admin/content/uploads/Sunpower230.pdf
Dave's solar system data:
http://pvoutput.org/intraday.jsp?id=22501&sid=20402&dt=20131104
John Deere 3038E tractor: http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/005/9/1/5912-john-deere-3038e-dimensions.html
Philips Luxeon Rebel LED: http://www.philipslumileds.com/uploads/265/DS68-pdf
http://www.philipslumileds.com/uploads/17/DS61-pdf
Thunderf00t's videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H901KdXgHs4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3ftXinT4jI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocV-RnVQdcs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI8c2f8r0UU
Forum: http://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-632-solar-roadways-are-bullshit!/'>http://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-632-solar-roadways-are-bullshit!/
EEVblog Main Web Site:
http://www.eevblog.com
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Donations:
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PART 2 HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOZBrHqTJk4
In this video Dave does the solar generation calculations to see if this system is viable from an energy generation viewpoint, and also how much power the LED's might typically consume.
What are the losses in a typical practical system like this?
Are Solar Freakin Roadways feasible?, or just pie-in-the-sky rubbish?
This debunking covers only a couple of the likely dozens of major technical issues with this concept.
The main take-away form this video is that these solar roadways panels will never EVER be economically viable, and the solar payback is simply comical. EVen if they can meet ann the ridiculously high demands on a physical roadway.
Also, no amount of research will EVER make this a viable idea. You can't just take existing solar technology (which is borderline viable at best of times) and put it in the most hostile physical environment possible, least efficient environment possible, and most costly environment possible and expect it to be viable. It won't be viable, ever.
Datasheets & Links:
http://www.solarroadways.com
Sunpower E18 Solar Panels: http://hvce.com/admin/content/uploads/Sunpower230.pdf
Dave's solar system data:
http://pvoutput.org/intraday.jsp?id=22501&sid=20402&dt=20131104
John Deere 3038E tractor: http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/005/9/1/5912-john-deere-3038e-dimensions.html
Philips Luxeon Rebel LED: http://www.philipslumileds.com/uploads/265/DS68-pdf
http://www.philipslumileds.com/uploads/17/DS61-pdf
Thunderf00t's videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H901KdXgHs4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3ftXinT4jI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocV-RnVQdcs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI8c2f8r0UU
Forum: http://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-632-solar-roadways-are-bullshit!/'>http://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-632-solar-roadways-are-bullshit!/
EEVblog Main Web Site:
http://www.eevblog.com
EEVblog Amazon Store:
http://astore.amazon.com/eevblogstore-20
Donations:
http://www.eevblog.com/donations/
Projects:
http://www.eevblog.com/projects/
Electronics Info Wiki:
http://www.eevblog.com/wiki/
Done.
Has it really been almost a decade now, and people are still trying to push the stupid idea.
I wonder how many solar panels you could have put on the roofs of already existing structures for the same amount of money that has been dumped into these stupid projects. I bet the answer is rather depressing.
I'll update this comment if I ever get around doing the math
Gotta say. Love the shirt! 🙂
They're still looking for funding💀💀
It's fucking glass and plastic on a road…
Nuf said.
Nuclear powered high speed rail has more potential
These clowns just raised another $1M in an SEC stock offering
6y later I can still smell it. And they are doing it on people pathways here.
Dave, where can I buy this T-shirt? 🙂
LOL, now I know what those solar-roadways jokes mean. ;D
Actually the part where they said the solar panels would be hot enough to melt away snow is true accept it is waste heat that is being produced by the solar panel which does not produce any energy like at all meaning that this is a giant waste of money thank God I don't throw money at things like this because I usually think it's bullshit anyway
2020 bet you feel like a tit now mate haha 🙂 so wrong here come the Solar Roadways
This video is a load of bullshit lol
I wonder if those dislikes are from the idiots that believed in this thing.
Or if they're later dislikes from those that are angry to to be proved wrong long before they figured out this was bullshit.
For anyone still seeing this, there are a few conceptual mistakes in the analysis which I think deserve mentioning. It is worth noting that correcting these mistakes still would not make solar roads a viable solution.
1) Considering horizontal panels to be a loss compared to angled panels: No, horizontal panels are the standard for most measurements and if you try to correct any data you find by assuming it is angled or tracking you would be making a mistake. angled panels and tracking systems IMPROVE production rather than being the default. So particularly, in your video, you have a 20% loss for having horizontal panels. That loss should not be there. Horizontal is 100%, everything else is like 120% 130% etc.
2) Your comment about the grid not being storage: also not exactly true. if you consider the grid as a whole then you are correct that it does not have storage. However, to an individual user, in locations that allow net-metering, the grid is functionally identical to a battery. That's why it is called "VIRTUAL grid storage" because it is not real per se but it can be treated as such. An individual user can put energy into the grid and later take energy out. This process costs them nothing so to an individual who does not care about the operation of the larger grid, it is identical to a battery. Of course in the case of solar roads, they become a major provider (assuming they work) and so this idea of virtual storage no longer applies due to the size of the impact they would have.
3) When you were drawing the output curve and calculating the production per day: it would have been easier to just look up the ESH of your area (or any that you care about). you can just google ESH map and see tons of pictures. This also comes back to my first point because such maps are for horizontal surfaces so you would not need to include any correcting factor there. Since you seem to have your own solar system I am surprised you don't know about this.
20% + 10% + 10% + 20% != 40%..?! 60%
Road rut.
Vehicle accidents.
Extreme Weather.
Just a few issues will tear these solar road panels up.
The main problem with Solar Powered Roadways are the fact that the ideas they have been using are wrong leading to expensive failures which anyone with a high-school degree, or even a 6th grade education could have told anyone that. They are going about it ALL wrong. I have the answer, but you guys would just shoot it down taking pleasure in people's failures. So I'm not going to waste my vision on this site. One day SPRs will be even more practical and cheaper to make and way more durable than they are now. BTW, roadways are never "Flat" as they have a slight concave nature to them to prevent water collection. Helps to be a Civil Engineer. I've told my idea to JPL, MIT, NASA, Cal Tech, Georgia Tech, Clemson and General Electric and the scientists I've spoken with like the idea. The only problem is that the formula needs to be invented for the mixture. However with articles like this laughing at failures, we have become a nation of can'ts instead a nation of Can Do's. You are either part of the problem bitching about how things are stupid or part of the solution. So when that company that makes the formula work and make SPR's practical and highly efficient, gets mega rich, laugh at him or her all you want then.
5 Years later and Dave was proven right, it doesn't work as intended 🙂
Aside from all the technical issues, the thing that concerns me is leaked oil and some rain water on a super smooth glass surface. Good luck staying on that road.
Solar roadways be like: take the the most useless tool you have in your garage and change it for another one, but made out of pure gold. Is even more useless+is just stupidly expensive and it wont last long at all (I just hate how useless gold rly is, and no, in electronics, is all right. Is heavy, is expensive, rare and very, very soft)
You won't stop the gullible idiots throwing money at this bullshit, huge wind turbines and solar farms work perfectly well and they are more efficient, can you imagine a vehicle braking hard on wet glass, maybe the roads will have window wipers and hair dryers
9clock9rainforestforestmeanface, Prophecy is now.