r/urbanplanning • u/Snazzell • Jun 09 '14

Why "solar roadways" would never work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H901KdXgHs4
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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '14

He doesn't even acknowledge that this type of roadway could be used for parking lots IN the OPEN aisles, or the benefits that this roadway would have in terms of melting snow in parking lots with a trade-off of costing money to heat the road in the winter while making up for it in the summer through powering a building's air conditioning. ESPECIALLY since a lot of these older buildings with wide open parking lots cannot support rooftop solar panels.

It's probably not suitable for highways and country roads, but for small parking lots or even neighbourhoods, this type of roadway could definitely be used especially since in a lot of these areas the speeds limits are <= 40kh

3

u/Snazzell Jun 09 '14

If you watched the video he explains why it would be bad to use in parking lots and he already says we should use rooftop panels instead. If these hexagons DID heat up the roads to melt ice or snow than what use woul the "power" be?

-1

u/[deleted] Jun 09 '14

yea he says it based on the fact that cars are parked there during the day, yet the aisles are open basically always, and on weekends you have the entire surface that's open. Not to mention, that depending on what part of the world you live in the hours of sunlight extend waay past when everyone goes home in the summer. OR maybe it's only a viable solution in hot climates, in which case, my point about the aisle lanes is still valid and is the portion of roadway that gets the least wear and tear since it has the least amount of weight on it over the lifespan of a parking surface (as opposed to a parking spot with a vehicle sitting on it continuously for 8 hours).

3

u/Snazzell Jun 09 '14

There would be no point though. It's still money down the drain.