Solar Roadways, IMPORTANT QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS!

Ball park numbers:
to 25 000 sq miles = 90 bn square meters.

At about 4 tiles per m2, thats 240 billion tiles.

At 50 LEDs each, thats 12 trillion LEDS.

These need to be light up ALL the time you want road markings!

300 LEDs takes about 60 Watts.

Cheap electricity is about 0.06 dollars per kW Hr

So to run 300 LEDs for 1 hr coast about half a cent.

To run 12 trillion LEDs for 1hr costs about 150 million dollars!
4 billion dollars per day,
1.4 trillion dollars per year.

They will take more power just to run the LEDs than will be generated by the road!!!
And thats not including the cost of building the infrastructure, or the fact that the LED probably will need to be replaced about every 5 years.

This video was supported through Patreon:

[Rakshasa]

I think you misunderstand the glass situation. You see, they are using the magical glass used for the armour in the Elder Scrolls universe. That glass can survive magical attacks, large falls, and doesn't exist. You can't argue with those kind of results.

[midnight_commander]

You think you're so smart Mr. Thunderf00t.

And you are. So there.

[inferno]

What about theft? Do you expect me not to steal these things?

[SargonofAkkad]

The thought of driving at high speeds on highly-polished glass roads is absolutely terrifying. 

[pathosfear]

I remember when these things were talked about everywhere, and me, being an engineer that worked specifically with renewable energy was pulling my hair trying to explain to people how it wouldn't work... But then, I didn't have a flashy video produced by a marketing firm, so no one listened to me.

[gambitboard]

One more thing to take note of - the density of the LEDs on the panels. In order to perform the functions indicated in the video, the panels would have to be solid LEDs, with a pixel density similar to a TV. But, look at the panels in the video. The LEDs are extremely sparse, and therefore unable to produce lines, graphics, warning texts and the like.

[raeishimura]

I still get a laugh out of people trying to give this guy shit about his being skeptical of things like this. I mean, the dude is a scientist. His day job is doing the research on all kinds of things, but people question whether he is really able to make these statements. Yeah, lets question a guy who has tons of videos on science and physics about whether the science of this stuff works. It's really entertaining to read the comments of people defending it, lol. I mean, I'm an architectural engineer, so I was a bit skeptical of how they expected this to work myself, but didn't understand the science of it. Glad to see I wasn't the only one who questioned it, and glad to see someone did the research to debunk it.

[Shibouu]

People are so quick to jump on any scam that makes them feel like they'll be living in Tron, it's sad... ;(

[phantomcharger]

I can't believe they gave them tax dollars for this?!?!
that's lame even for government

[SokarEntertainment]

Like Thunderf00t already pointed out brilliantly; This is taking a great idea (solar energy) and making it into a stupid one (putting them in the road). We should focus on putting them in our buildings. Here in Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Norway and few other places, even if its only a small effort atm, is putting solar panels into new construction, while also upgrading the electrical grid to better harness excess energy, and help resupply it where its needed. Sorta like an energy internet. This though, is just to help the situation, I'm not saying this would be a replacement "simple" fix.

Making use of roads to make energy, using "gravity" generators would make a lot more sense i.e, small, very slight movable plates, that generates a bit of power every time someone or something "steps" or "drives" over it. This can be done very cheaply. It won't be a contender as a standalone solution either by any means, but at least that idea makes sense. The energy and pollution problem, isn't going to be solved by one thing (except maybe fusion, though even that will probably be hindered due to the cost of making the plants, should the technology prove viable down the line), it'll be a combination of things. Solar panels on buildings, better electrical grids, pressure generators, these could just be the start. Ideally we'll integrate a large portion electrical generation, into our infrastructure.

Or we jump on a good sells pitch about making glass roads :P

[MrSpyhere]

yo these people really think glass roads are gonna stand a chance against drift kids in 240s hooning the fuck out of there cars? hell no my dudes

[scottt.]

ur right dude it's 2016 not 2100 let's start with solar rooftops

[stellaconcepts]

Glass and weather conditions do not mix either! One wet/snowy day and it would be carmageddon!

[TheDutchPhysicist]

also cars will fly off the road in a turn since glass doesnt have enough friction to make the turn, or we will have to drive really slowly in turns

[anzaca]

7:04 Also, a glass road surface will just blind drivers when the sun is at a low angle. I should know. After all, sunstrike is already a huge problem here in NZ, and that's with normal roads.

[Sepreturex]

Eceryone please share this with as many people as possible. And remember to never ever give anyone your money without doing some basic math beforehand.

Thanks Thunderf00t, you saved us again.

[OzymandiasRamsesII]

Good video.  I'm all for increasing the use of solar power, but the makers of the _Solar Freakin' Roadways_ advertizing video lost me when they claimed that these roadways would generate enough energy to heat the road surface in winter in northern climes to melt the snow and keep the roads cleared of snow and the panels operational.

Unless those roadways are connected to impractically large arrays of batteries capable of storing sufficient energy for later use in powering heating elements built into the road surface, there's no way such roads wouldn't become completely inoperative once blanketed by even a light snow.  I don't think people realize that powering a heating element requires far more energy than powering an LED.

If the direct sunlight itself isn't sufficient to melt the snow on a road in cold temperatures, there's no way the solar panel, which converts only a fraction of the solar radiation hitting it, could possibly generate enough energy to raise the road temperature enough to melt snow in cold temperatures. 

[sighahnyde]

I really liked that one comment "why not just put solar panels on the side of the road"

often times the best solution is the simplest solution

Edit: also one thing didn't mention would be the cost and effort required for cleaning and polishing the road. It doesn't take a genius to know that glass covered in scratches, dirt, and rubber tends not to let as much sunlight through.

[ssbmfan]

Solar roadways might be useful for your driveway if you're rich, stupid, and already have asphalt to support it with.

[Hairysteed]

I also laughed at the Wright Brothers; they claimed to have invented a machine that would make future wars impossible