Quote:
Originally Posted by JD
But why? What feature does this offer that is worth the thousands of percentage points more cost than a plain asphalt highway? The signage is presented in a cooler way? The road is smoother? It's not like this is more environmentally friendly. I guess with LED's you can change traffic patterns with the click of a mouse.
Yeah new technologies are expensive when you make full quantum leaps forward like this. But the way new technologies are effectively introduced is by sprinkling in economical bits little by little. Kind of like how mobile phones are done. Twenty years ago Apple knew exactly the kind of phone they WANTED to release, but the technology was either costly or unavailable. Instead, they release a new version with every generation and in each case they come closer and closer to their ideal vision of what an iPhone should be.
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They're solar panels. They generate electricity that can go back into the grid. According to the article " a four-lane, one-mile stretch of road with panels could generate enough power for 500 homes."
There's also the possibility of using the electricity generated by the road to re-charge electric/hybrid autos
while they drive.
http://www.dvice.com/archives/2011/0...ess-car-ch.php
Obviously like others have stated the technology isn't really there at this point to make it economically feasible. That doesn't mean that these sorts of concepts aren't worth pursuing.