YERT Conversation 19.1: Solar Roadways

YERT talks with Scott Brusaw in northern Idaho about an idea that could solve nearly every problem "under the sun" - literally. Welcome to Solar Roadways, where the rubber hits the...er...photovoltaic panel. Find more information at http://www.solarroadways.com.

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[shogunkai91]

there's a fly on your cup (around 3:00)

[YERTians]

@shogunkai91 Yup. It was annoying during the shoot. It is certainly dead by now. ;-)

[drorjs]

storage. storage,storage. there are many great ideas about solar power but the ability to store the energy for night and winter use is the key problem.

[YERTians]

I believe that capacitors handle storage in the Solar Roadways. I'm going to be doing a follow-up interview soon and will get more detail at that time.

[YERTians]

Obama totally needs to hear about this!!

[yecidah]

You are SOOOOO cool Scott. May this year bring your incredible idea to reality!!

[morg3k]

What you said makes perfect sense. And I had to give you a thumbs up, because some moron was senseless enough to give you a thumbs down.

[thegoodlocust]

Nice scam you have going here - perhaps Obama can send you a half billion dollar loan like he did with Solyndra for a photo op - assuming of course you are a huge campaign donor.

Your idea of course is complete nonsense because solar panels use rare earth metals and/or silver to make. Quite simply there aren't enough materials to make these roads of yours - assuming you ever get this glass built right and it works perfectly in ways you didn't imagine (i.e. snow, ice, freezing/refreezing, etc)

[sorcerykid]

Also something to think about, the illuminated pavement markings, both words and stripes, need to be elongated (approx. double lengthwise) to account for the approach angle of vehicular traffic. Likewise, all horizontal lettering strokes need to be doubled on thickness (e.g. a capital 'E', must have each of the three arms occupying pairs of adjacent LEDs).

[sorcerykid]

@solarskyhawk Cool, I invented an idea for modular panelized electronic roads about 20 years ago back when I was in high school. It was a very detailed project, and it's what really spurred my interest in civil engineering. We should all keep in touch.

[d3dreaper]

@morg3k the power and oil companies all got together and did one thumbs down....

[stopdemockery]

Now, if you enable the panels to heat up in the winter, so the road never freezes over, you've got the whole picture.

[ImUrtastyflava]

Why isn't this being installed RIGHT NOW?!

why cant i see this in my street :O?

and why isn't this a HUGE topic!?

so is this a replacements?

is it expensive? or what?

[abqmufc]

Makes complete sense. Thank you for giving me some inspiration...I needed it with all that is going on in the world.

[FreeMeFromG]

Last one I promise and sorry for the typos.

I read on their site they have their first job, as least that is what it sounded like. At this point, more attention needs to be given to this idea. This way, when they start to make news, everyone already knows about it and has heard of it. Will make it harder to bury or disappear it.

I really hope you good folks at YERT are following this story closely and I hope even making a doc about it. This deserves the attention. Thanks Scott and YERT

[FreeMeFromG]

Have to post again and wonder why there is not at least some crazy caring billionaire out there who would through them money cause it's the right thing to do?

All that would be needed is a town and the surrounding area as proof of concept. With the specs all in place. How much could that cost? I know I can do the math for it but I think you know what I mean.

This is the perfect way to show it's doable. After that, only the energy concern will be in your way but public pressure could work.

[FreeMeFromG]

I love the presentation that yert put together that was fantastic, great job folks.

However, I really love to hear Scott Brusaw just talk about his idea also. He makes me wish I was an engineer. If I were, I would have already MOVED to Idaho and would be bothering him every single day to allow me to work with him. This is a brilliant idea and LONG over due.

We need to hear more from him. Someone should be filming the whole process, it's only a matter of time before he runs into ROAD BLOCKS.