Originally Posted by crockett (Post 20099065)

Yea read this guys site a few times. It comes off a bit crazy and it's kind unorganized but he knows his stuff.

http://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/

The moral of the story, is don't install solar unless you do it yourself, because 99% of the RV dealers have no clue what they are doing and they will sometimes purposely install low gauge wire to hinder performance in order to sell you more panels.

Also the RV dealers do insane mark ups on the products, so you are better off buying the stuff online.

Roof top AC is pretty much a no go, but if you get a good 12v fridge you can power everything else. I have heard of people powering small window units AC's but they usually require about 500w just for that.

Originally Posted by TheSquealer (Post 20099038)

Isn't that a moot point? It can't be done cheaply and efficiently which is why it is not done to begin with. That shouldn't need explaining.

I mean seriously.. its a cartoon video.

Solar has been the next big thing for decades and still is not here yet. Obama, your lord and savior, funded a few solar companies with the stimulus plan which promptly went out of business. The largest I believe was Abound Energy which received over $400,000,000.00 USD and then promptly went out of business and auctioned its assets.

Further, if it could be done cheaply and safely, it would be infinitely easier to implement it on home and commercial buildings anyway. Things that are accessible, do not cause traffic issues to repair or maintain, which are not surfaces affected by freezing and heat and constantly buckling and heaving and breaking apart, surfaces which don't require massive snow plows being scraped over them and which also cover a massive amount of surface area and so on and so on and so on and so on. It would seem quite obvious to anyone that spent even a few seconds thinking about it, that coating road surfaces with something like this is an insane idea... car accidents ripping it up, constant car fires melting and destroying them (yes, if you pay attention on any major highway, there are places all over the place where cars burned), crazy weather, snow, ice, remoteness etc etc etc etc etc. Maintenance itself would be impossible. Further, if there was any surface better than asphalt or concrete it would be in use already. Thinking a solar panel is somehow going to be just fine as a highways surface is a bit silly.... given the fact that the world has been struggling with the "better, safer road surface" question for a century.... and still are stuck with asphalt and concrete.

Furthermore, there is another point which should be fairly obvious. The nations entire infrastructure is crumbling. We have 10's of 1000's of miles of bridges which are not just in dire need of repair, but much of which are beyond repair. So it's not very clear where anyone thinks the many hundreds and billions of dollars just to start something like this is going to come from, when roads and bridges are already falling apart.

Example: U.S. has 63,000 bridges that need significant repairs

even the crazy schizophrenic above gets it.

Originally Posted by ********** (Post 20099130)

And speaking of China, installed over 12 Gigawatts of solar power capacity in 2013 alone.

So don't discount Solar. It's expensive and clearly not for everyone, but it definitely has a future.

Originally Posted by TheSquealer (Post 20099323)

I hardly think its relevant what a 1/2 communist government, in one of the most populous nations on the planet and who is still mostly living in the stone age, and where they are not living in the stone age, they are almost wholly dependent on coal is doing in solar.

Its a physics and a math problem... not a "can a communist government who is one of the largest polluters in the world, spend the money to make a token effort for UN Summits to shut people up" problem.

The point is not whether or not to "discount solar"... obviously at some point in the future it will get figured out. The point is "right here, right now, today... its not".

The idea of covering all major highways with solar panels is insane, at best for a myriad of issues... not to mention the most obvious issue that roads are city, state, county and federal and can't be taken over by private enterprise.

Originally Posted by crockett (Post 20099053)

Not here yet? It's all over..

Cali for example is building 14 new solar farms at this very moment..

This is a article from just a few days ago talking about how NC of all places has become the number 2 producer of electric with solar right behind Cali..

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte...new-solar.html

Originally Posted by crockett (Post 20099334)

Why do you people act as if solar is some far off technology that the world has yet to grasp?

Originally Posted by crockett (Post 20099334)

Is this photoshop? Some out take from a futuristic movie? A picture from a time traveler?

No.. It a single solar farm in Long Island. It outputs on average of 44,000,000 kilowatt-hours a year which is enough to power 4,500 homes. The electric produced doesn't disappear into a magical black hole, it gets used everyday. In fact it's a pretty damn good chance that electric you are using right now has partially been created by solar unless you live in a hole under a rock..

Originally Posted by TheSquealer (Post 20099345)

Again, the fact that something exists, doesn't mean its financially viable. Thats the thing you just can't seem to accept.

Furthermore, you bitch about oil companies and their conspiracies against clean and renewable energy and then use a project as an example of solar greatness and its future, which was funded and owned by BP. Yay BP! Good for them for leading the way with a minor tax write off and new talking point for their "environmental responsibility".

Originally Posted by crockett (Post 20099405)

The price of coal is increasing meanwhile the price of solar is dropping. Sometime between 2020 and 2030 solar will be the most cost effective power creation method. Cheaper than coal, natural gas and nuclear..

Originally Posted by TheSquealer (Post 20099471)

Uhmmm so thanks for making my point which I've stated several times now....? We are a long ways from solar making good financial sense for everyone.

Originally Posted by SilentKnight (Post 20098754)

The U.S. Federal Debt is about $17,690,680,484,000.

Who's gonna hold another pink slip for $3 trillion? How much of this hi-tech roadway is $3 trillion gonna build? A few highways? The streets around the Capital building in Washington?

Seems like an awesome concept. Sounds extremely unfeasible given the cost and the existing debtload to the nation (and that goes for us here in Canada, too).

Originally Posted by Kolargol (Post 20099248)

I wonder what will happen if someone hacks into the road solar panel system and changes signs, lanes etc.

Originally Posted by crockett (Post 20099334)

Why do you people act as if solar is some far off technology that the world has yet to grasp?

http://www.bnl.gov/GARS/images/LI-Solar-Farm-620px.jpg

Is this photoshop? Some out take from a futuristic movie? A picture from a time traveler?

No.. It a single solar farm in Long Island. It outputs on average of 44,000,000 kilowatt-hours a year which is enough to power 4,500 homes. The electric produced doesn't disappear into a magical black hole, it gets used everyday. In fact it's a pretty damn good chance that electric you are using right now has partially been created by solar unless you live in a hole under a rock..

This is a picture of a single solar farm in the US but there are hundreds just like it all over the country.

I can see why green energy has such a hard time in this country. People are far to ignorant about it and have no clue what is going on in the world around them.


This is a website from a homeowner in Maine whom has built a house powered by solar. It's a big house and he keeps detailed records of his usage all the way back to 2011.

http://www.solarhouse.com

I just don't get people denying something that is used everyday as if it's some far off technology or a massive problem like sending men to mars.. It's not people live via solar power every day, right now.

Originally Posted by Rochard (Post 20100403)

You aren't doing the math here.

No matter what, we are going to spend $3 trillion on roads and infrastructure in the near future. If we continue on the current course we'll spend $3 trillion and in return we'll get our freeways maintained and repaved and what not. Or... We can put up solar freeways - not only would it cut down on costs for the federal government by powering all the lights on the freeways, it would also provide income to the federal government in the form of power sold.

Thus.... We can spent $3 trillion and get some roads. Or, we can spent $3 trillion, get the same roads, completely eliminate the money spent on powering all the lights and street signs on the freeway, AND generate income for the government.

Instead of spending money on roads, the roads would be paid for with no money out of pocket, and our government would have extra income. Win win win.

Originally Posted by TheSquealer (Post 20100666)

What an odd way of thinking.
Even more odd to suggest someone else isn't "doing the math"

1) The Federal Government can't be in private business... so no, it can't make money by selling electricity to the public.

2) Spending 3 trillion on roads means rebuilding, resurfacing etc. Not to mention dealing with well over 60,000 bridges that desperately need repair. You've somehow believed that using a new experimental surface, which presumably will lay down on top of the 3 trillion dollars in rebuilt roads will be free, not an additional 3 trillion dollars.

3) What are the costs of maintenance for experimental solar panels as a road surface? Didn't think about that? Shocker.

4) "Government" doesn't take into account the difference between private, city, state, county and federal roads and the obvious issue of getting anyone to agree on anything or to bear the cost of maintenance.

5) Solar panels aren't even efficient enough yet to power your own house in a cost effective manner... but covering the planet with an experimental road surface seems to make obvious financial sense to you?

6) You've somehow assumed how much power they can generate to "power" road lights and other utilities and are obviously oblivious to the fact that it depends entirely on the climate of the region and in a best case scenario, still won't generate much power when averaged across large geographic regions of varying climates

7) Ever hear of winter and roads covered with snow and ice?

Good stuff.. :)

Originally Posted by crockett (Post 20100675)

Odd you must have never heard of the US post office. Freddie or Fanny Mae. They are all three businesses that the US govt owns.