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Pilsbury
Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Posts: 5645 Location: East london/Essex
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Mistress Rose
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Hairyloon
Joined: 20 Nov 2008 Posts: 15425 Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.
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Pilsbury
Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Posts: 5645 Location: East london/Essex
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Nick
Joined: 02 Nov 2004 Posts: 34535 Location: Hereford
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sueshells
Joined: 20 Jan 2009 Posts: 690 Location: North Bucks
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dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 46030 Location: yes
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Aeolienne
Joined: 03 Apr 2008 Posts: 1498 Location: Leamington Spa, Warks
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Nick
Joined: 02 Nov 2004 Posts: 34535 Location: Hereford
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dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 46030 Location: yes
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Slim
Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Posts: 6591 Location: New England (In the US of A)
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Posted: Thu Feb 16, 17 12:28 pm Post subject: |
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I'm glad they're trying stuff out.
But I think we're all right in keeping a critical eye.
I've always been a bit skeptical of the idea, particularly as more efficient solar set-ups don't require all that much surface area of the world, if we were to have proper energy transmittance infrastructure (which the Chinese might start advancing).
Not a confidence booster that the findings of their research work stops in 2015.....
Also, this bit:
Quote: |
Each full size hexagon panel measures four square feet, so there would be 15,840 panels per lane mile using a 12-foot wide lane. If each four of these produced 52397Wh in six months, then the same four would theoretically produce 104,794Wh per year.[emphasis mine] That's 26.1985kWh per year each. Multiply that by 15,840 panels, and the road would produce 414.984MWh per year per lane mile. This is with only 69-percent solar cell coverage. With 100-percent coverage, the output would be 601.426MWh per year per lane mile. |
Is not very heartening to me. They're not specifying which six months they're multiplying off of. If it's the winter months, than great, the production will be even higher. But it seems like they're most likely to be taking summer months' production and just doubling it and painting a very overly optimistic picture. Now add short winter days, traffic (and its shading), and dust, and snow, and salt.
Their testing involves temperature swings, and "freezing it in a block of ice". As someone from an area with actual harsh winters, that doesn't cut it. These roads don't get frozen in a static block of ice, they have water seeping in to every nook and cranny and freezing, then being pushed around with plows and melting and freezing again, and salt corroding every bit of metal. There is a reason you don't find many old cars in New England - if they weren't garaged every winter they rust away!
Anyhoo, there's my skeptical rant. Really do hope they make advances that are useful for their own purposes (clearly there are many locales that don't have tough winters like mine), as well as advances that are useful for other developments (maybe they make a really solid modular roof tile design out of their product - though solar city may have beat them to the punch) |
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dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 46030 Location: yes
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Slim
Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Posts: 6591 Location: New England (In the US of A)
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gregotyn
Joined: 24 Jun 2010 Posts: 2201 Location: Llanfyllin area
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Slim
Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Posts: 6591 Location: New England (In the US of A)
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