Crowdsourcing is one of those great ideas that could only come about because of the Internet. But it also opens up the possibilities for con artists, or at least advocates of really bad ideas, to get money from people who don’t know any better.
One of those bad ideas is solar roadways, which–thanks to a tweet by George Takei (because actors on science fiction TV shows know so much more about science than other celebrities)–received more than $2 million in pledges when its promoters asked for only half that. The pledges kept coming in even after numerous web sites debunked the proposal to turn roads into solar energy collectors.
The argument against solar roadways comes down to this: All roads in the United States cover about 16 million acres of land (out of 2.3 billion acres in the entire country). All rooftops in the United Staes cover about the same area. If we are going to install solar panels, where does it make more sense to do it: roads or rooftops?
On rooftops, we can orient the panels for ideal sun exposure, the panels will stay relatively clean and free of obstructions, and we don’t have to worry much about anything other than the occasional bird or meteorite damaging them. On roads, the panels can’t be oriented, they will be partly obscured by vehicles, skid marks, and oil leaks, and subject to continuous impacts from tires, studs, chains, accidents, and falling cargo. This makes the road option a poorer producer of electricity at a higher cost.
The good thing about funding solar roadways through crowdsourcing is that at least taxpayers aren’t being forced to pay for it. Unfortunately, possibly with the help of an endorsement by Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, taxpayers have already put up $850,000 in two grants through the Department of Transportation’s Small Business Innovation Research program. The developers, who by an amazing coincidence live in Idaho, were to use this money to build a solar parking lot. They have photos of the parking lot on their web site, but don’t say whether it actually generates any electricity.
The other good thing about solar roadways is that urban planners hate roads enough that few of them will ever try to adopt this technology. Let’s just hope no more of our tax dollars go to this crazy idea.
I agree that there are better ideas than this. Part of the motivation comes from knowing that currently only about 25% of roofs are suitable for solar, so these types of proponents are looking for other places to put collectors.
The other thing to keep in mind is that distributed generation will break utility monopolies, so they are doing all they can to prevent distributed generation.
DS
What’s all this nay-saying? Why stop at roads? Theoretically we could make just about everything man made a solar panel.
It’s bazzaro Joni Mitchel. They paved paradise and put up a solar panel.
Theoretically we could make just about everything man made a solar panel.
We’re getting there, esp with BIPV and glass. Such reasons are why low-efficiency roads are a third-best solution.
DS
Maybe Solyndra can make a comeback – this time with a solar road scam.
Solyndra – hur hur hur!
DS