First off, for those who are unfamiliar with Solar Roadways, please see this video. Links to the group's website are on the youtube video information. Essentially, it's an idea to transform the nation's roadways into combination solar arrays, LED displays, and road heaters.
As an engineer, my first goal was to consider all the possible ways that it could fail. Luckily, these people know what they're doing. They were able to answer several valid engineering questions, some before I could even consider them. What about traction? Solved. They broke a university traction tester. What about load capacity? It's capable of handling loads over 250,000 lbs. That's three times the weight limit here in Texas. What about cost? Admittedly unknown right now, but then, any venture of this size isn't going to exist without some risk to people's wallets. Fact is, nothing ever starts out cheap. It becomes cheap after it is capable of being mass produced.
So in short, I do believe this is a technically feasible project. I'm not saying it will definitely, indubitably work. It may prove too cost inefficient to do anything. Material costs may skyrocket, the manufacturing cost may not scale down as much as believed, there may be unforeseen technical challenges - who knows. But I believe it's grounded enough in reality that it warrants an attempt - a real attempt, not just sending them a million or two so they can build parking lots in Idaho. The question is, how do we overcome resistance from the fossil fuel industry to give this project a shot?
Follow me below the heated, solar paneled LED squiggle of awesomeness to hear my proposal.
Let's take over a major city.
Yes, you heard me right. Let's petition the mayor and city council of a major city to outfit its city roads, bike lanes, sidewalks, government parking lots, and such with Solar Roadways. The city we pick must have the following conditions to be viable:
1) It must be reasonably well off. Let's not tax poor people before we figure out if the damn thing will even work.
2) It must be an environmentally conscious city. No city is going to touch this unless they're already eager to lower their carbon footprint.
3) It must be a big city. This technology demonstration must take place in such a way that it is visible to millions of people. That's the only way it'll spread to other cities. It must also be a large enough city that it can afford to try this.
4) It can't be too big of a city. This is a proof of concept venture. We're attempting to show that the technology is feasible on a grand scale. But if we pick a city like New York or Los Angeles, we run the risk of sending good money down a bad project.
5) It must be a city in the southern half of the United States. One of the things you may be aware of regarding solar energy is the concept of "flux". Solar power depends on the "flux" of solar radiation. Flux is the notion that the "true" radiation seen by a two-dimensional surface is proportional to the cosine of the angle between the radiation beam and the line perpendicular to the surface. Southern cities are unique in that they're closer to the equator, and thus, the flux factor is closer to 1 (i.e. less power is lost to angular effects).
6) The city must be run by Democrats. God knows Republicans won't go for this, at least at first.
7) Ideally, our city will have a high-tech economy, preferably with many electrical and computer engineers stationed reasonably close. In short, the Google Fiber approach.
With these in mind, I propose: Austin, Texas.
1: Austin is reasonably well-off. Its average family income is above average for the US - and considering that Austin is cheaper than most large cities, that's further magnified.
2: Austin's environmentalist movement is very strong. Some months back, we had a special election for one of our state house districts. The environmentalist candidate beat out the two business candidates by a comfortable margin. Austin has a tradition of being very environmentally conscious.
3: Austin is a big city. The metro area has two million people, and hundreds of thousands visit each year for music festivals, Longhorn games, school, tourism, political activism, and other activities.
4: Austin is a big city, but with a city population of 800k, it ranks as the 11th most populous city in America.
5: Austin has tons of sun. On average, the city receives 229 days with sunshine. As one of the largest cities with a low latitude, we are also primed to have some of the best sunshine possible.
6: Austin is a progressive jewel in the heart of the south. While our city elections are officially non-partisan, our city council is controlled by left-leaning individuals. Our Mayor Lee Leffingwell, himself an engineer by training, is also a Democrat.
7: The Austin/Round Rock area is known as the "Silicon Hills". We are one of the largest hubs of high-tech, computer/electronics-related jobs in the entire nation. Austin is also home to the University of Texas, whose engineering department is one of the world's best. We won't be hurting for local brainpower to poach.
Put simply, Austin has the infrastructure, both economic and logistical, to handle a project of this magnitude. It stands to benefit greatly from Solar Roadways, perhaps more than any other city. It is a prime target for a trial run of the technology.
Forget begging Congress to do anything. Forget President Obama's climate initiatives. We have to be the change we believe in. We have to start local and build a movement from the ground-up. And I propose we start now, by organizing and deciding what we're going to do and how we're going to do it while Solar Roadways uses its funds to build up an infrastructure of its own. Who's in?