It’s official. Those Solar Freakin’ Roadways that so many people out there spent so much money to support do not work.
This isn’t a case of an experiment that failed. This isn’t a case of someone taking a chance on an untried hypothesis. This is a case where the engineering is very clear, the science is well understood, and anyone who bothered to examine the concept knew in advance that it would not work.
The inventors admitted that they had no breakthroughs in either materials or solar collection technology. They were using conventional and easily available items to build their panels. The efficiency of the panels they use are known, as is the amount of light that they would get. The strength of the materials is known, as is the amount of stress that road surfaces are subject to. The amount of light generated by the LEDs they used is known, as is the ambient light in the environment where they intend to install the panels.
There are no unknowns here. There is no question of “maybe it will work, maybe it won’t.” This is as simple as 2+2 does not equal 500. The numbers are a little bigger is all.
It is infuriating that so many ordinary people are ignorant enough to be taken in by such a transparent scam. It is absolutely unconscionable that the bureaucrats in charge of highways should be wasting taxpayer money on it.
mishaburnett 