…this mom and pop operation have raised over $1.9 million on Indiegogo from gullible people who don’t have the skillset or decide to ignore basic physics, economics, and common sense in favor of future pipe dreams of green energy. This video that follows shows why their claim doesn’t make any sense, none at all. The best part? The impetus was for this idea was global warming. Here is what they say about the birth of “solar roadways”.
CAGW is an intelligence Test.
If you buy it, we can sell you anything.
We’ll just make solar panels that you can drive our cars and ride our unicorns on and save the world!
Fools and their money.
This is the same thing as giving money to Jimmy Swaggart for “missionary work”, except for Gaia.
A few years back an enterprising fella in Californica had perfect scam:
Every so often, he would place an ad in some paper:
“Last day to send in your dollar”….and a PO Box #.
He made no claims or promises so he was untouchable…
They finally shut him down, by fair means or foul(can’t remember how)….he wasn’t breaking any laws….
The KISS theory in overdrive….
Its all in the Name “Indie” gogo
“indie rock” began to be used to describe those bands, working in a variety of styles, that did not pursue or achieve commercial success.[1]
add the gogo, which describes the condition of diarrhea
Flushing money down the shitter.
Flight?! HA!
Invisible power from tiny object that make up the universe? HA!
Thinking machines? HA!
What’s next? I guess I’ll just go print a pair of shoes on my printer. HA!
What exactly is so crazy about solar roadways? I would say that 2/3rds of the US would be unworkable for this idea. And the solar cells in their present form are way to bulky and fragile to work. But that’s the point of a campaign like this. A few million spent to develop the idea is peanuts. And so what if it doesn’t work? Perhaps it leads to something else? Perhaps a process for solar roofs, which makes much more sense. But whatever. This money is a fraction of the amount your average CEO receives in bonuses every year. It’s well worth the investment to see what these guys can come up with.
The sun bathes the Earth in something like 100 petawatts every year. If you could capture a tiny fraction of that power, we’d be set. That you guys are simply so deadset against it is nothing short of insane.
John, it’s a simple matter of basic physics and arithmetic. The average insolation of the planet is about 200 Watts/sq m on the surface. Of that 13 per cent only is useful; the rest of the photons don’t have sufficient energy to free an electron.
So, take the total surface area of US roads. Multiply it by the 200 watts, take 13 per cent of that, about 22 Watts/sq m, and divide it into the total average power demand of the US daily vehicle fleet. It will be short by at least two to three orders of magnitude.
To illustrate the ridiculously low density of solar power comes this experiment. Southern Railroad experimented in the 1980s with solar powered train lighting, believing it would reduce diesel fuel consumption. Careful measurement over the course of a year determined that in fact it increased diesel fuel consumption significantly because of the added weight of the panels.
The next showstopper is refraction and reflection effects. After about 5 years, all solar cells lose much of their generating capacity because of surface scratching from airborne fine particulates, mostly things like pollen. Used as a road surface, the degradation rate will be almost immediate. And since the degradation rate is a logarithmic progression, your solar road is worthless glass after a handful of vehicles.
And of course, you’ll have to prepare for complete system fluctuations or outright system shutdowns on overcast days, meaning you’ll have to line the highways with lead-acid batteries, lots and lots of them.
There’s always of course the problem of what to do at night, but not to worry. When it comes to basic science, you greenies are always in the dark.
Sasquatch, it’s just a new variation on an old, old scam. People have been flogging various forms of perpetual motion machines for the past century. Literally thousands of these things are still being touted on various weird sites on the internet.
The stupid! It burns!
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Eureka! I’ve just discovered the true source of Global Warming!
The lights just went out – must be a traffic jam.
John,
You will find that lots of SDAers are pro technology. But only technology that will work. Why wont it work? See cgh’s response. Thunderfoot, on Youtube, also did a thorough takedown of this scam.
You saying that *something* positive might result doesn’t work either. By that logic, anything could be justified. History is replete with crimes that were justified by your “argument”. A system which always directs money to the best return would be great. However, this crowdfunding effort shows that we do not exist in such a society.
Further, you seem to imply that SDA is against flight and nuclear power. Actually, its the greens who are against those technologies.
Want to try again?
So, you’re telling me that the solar cells duct-taped to my flash suppressor and wired directly to the grid won’t work?
“That you guys are simply so deadset against it is nothing short of insane.”
~John
If these people would only use privately invested money, not my taxes through government grants, and not be forcing the implementation of these new undeveloped technologies by creating a false necessity for them with the Global Warming Hoax and falsely demonizing already existing energy sources, then I wouldn’t give a fig if people piss away their own money and tilt at windmills.
That isn’t the case though, John, as you well know.
They are acting like a Warner Brothers cartoon, sawing off the branch which they and civilization are perched upon before well and safely resettling upon a sturdy new bough that we all can safely carry on to the future upon while the branch we currently sit on is still perfectly good and not in need of discarding or change at all.
There is No Global Warming and there is No Oil Shortage/Peak Oil.
As my Dad would say, it’s a racket.
Oz… these people are using privately invested money for this project. That’s the whole point of this campaign.
As for government grants for solar… damn straight. Oil companies get corporate welfare, why not solar if that means coming up with limitless sustainable energy.
And yes, there is peak oil. Perhaps not yet, but it’s not limitless. And it’s getting more expensive to obtain. That’s a fact. And then there is the issue of climate change, which you don’t believe in, but regardless of your silly ideology, is real.
Personally, I’m not sure solar is the solution. But it might be. It’s definitely worth investing in to see what can be produced.
Not a big fan of logic or common sense are you John ? For 1.9 million they could have invested that money on a small section of high volume road in a small town to test their theories. There are enough “green Mayors” that would jump at the opportunity to be first in testing this revolutionary concept. Why should they ? They are getting rich without having to prove anything. Once tested,logic and common sense would indicate their funding would dry up in a hurry.
Anybody want to buy some smart pills?
I got some for sale, cheap.
“… It’s well worth the investment to see what these guys can come up with. …”
I agree, John. Invest as much as you have and come back and tell us what they will have come up with.
“Oz… these people are using privately invested money for this project.”
~John
At 14:42 in the video it states that they got money(a GRANT) from the Department of Transport.
Scott Brushaw, the ‘inventor’ uses the fact that they got this grant to convince other people to invest.
Hucksters, Conmen, Flim Flam Artists, etc. apply for government grants and broadcast that they have received a grant in order to get the trust and confidence private of investors.
Among Grifters this is known as ‘salting the pot’ and history records they have been using this practice since the early 19th century.
Oil companies do not get corporate welfare.
Not only do Oil companies NOT GET CORPORATE WELFARE they pay taxes on their GROSS income as well as paying Royalties to the government.
Peak oil is a myth that has been warned about for over 100 years and the Alberta Oil Sands alone has enough proven reserves to last, at current production, over 400 years which is plenty of time to develop nuclear energy properly.
The MET Office in the UK has been keeping the longest most accurate temperature record on the planet. The MET Office states that there hasn’t been any Global Warning for 17+ years even though the CO2 content of the atmosphere has been steadily increasing.
That is incontrovertible proof that there is no Global Warming and that the theory/hypothesis that CO2 caused Global Warming was WRONG all along.
Uh oh-JOhns getting maaaadd!,
Climate global change disruption warming May or may not be happening lil Johnny, regardless I can assure your petite little the sky is falling brain , it isn’t caused by cow farts,exhaled air,or any other crazy thing you can think of.
Not to mention the discoveries of massive MASSIVE amounts of oil and gas reserves being discovered almost weekly is remarkable, and it is getting easier and easier and cheaper to access these reserves as well . So there goes your chicken little sky’s falling theory.
Anything else?
John, you claim that global warming and peak oil are clear and present dangers. Fine, assume that proposition to be true. The problem is that solar will do nothing to solve either one for the basic physics reasons I alluded to above.
You cannot:
1. Affect or increase the energy output of the Sun
2. Alter the fact that atmospheric absorption removes most of the energy
3. Alter the properties of elements in the periodic table to make them more prone to giving up electrons
4. Alter in any way the three fundamental principles of thermodynamics.
These are absolutes. And they will always be absolutes because that’s how the universe and its physical laws are constructed. Thus, it remains a fact that the dismal low energy density of solar power cannot be altered in any meaningful way. And this fundamental truth cannot be altered regardless of how many research dollars are spent on it.
Then there’s this: “…why not solar if that means coming up with limitless sustainable energy?”
There’ no such thing as limitless in this context. Solar is limited by the availability of capital invested in PV cells. So too is every other form of energy we use. There is limitless availability of fissile material for nuclear power at any scale imaginable, but the raw fuel isn’t the issue. The issue is invested capital in facilities to turn raw fuel into useful work.
I will invent the windshield wipers to clean the road dust and dog sh!t off these solar roadways
So John, how much money do you have sunk in this obvious scam? Couple thou?
Kiss it goodbye, dude.
If these people are scammers, my hat’s off to them for finding the suckers.
chg: “Of that 13 per cent only is useful; the rest of the photons don’t have sufficient energy to free an electron. …. So, take the total surface area of US roads. Multiply it by the 200 watts, take 13 per cent of that, about 22 Watts/sq m, and divide it into the total average power demand of the US daily vehicle fleet.”
” After about 5 years, all solar cells lose much of their generating capacity because of surface scratching from airborne fine particulates, mostly things like pollen.”
Can you reference these statements. I have a 155 watt panel on my Airstream for boondocking (mostly in the US southwest) and it’s approx. 8 sq. ft. (i.e. less than 1 sq. m.). I have no trouble powering various appliances with battery stowage the chief limitation. I know many fellow Airstreamers and other RV’ers who have solar panels and haven’t noticed any deterioration in output over the years. Solar panels are almost universal among RV’ers boondocking.
Try installing those panels at road level rather than on the roof and see if you notice any change in performance and life expectancy.