Comments on: Solar Power Can Fit on Existing Land

By: vern

vern — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:36:00 +0000

Piezoelectric generators in the road do not require any magnets in the car or for that matter any modifications to the vehicle. The devices are embedded into the road and use vibration from the traffic to produce electricity.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:53:00 +0000

PV “plates”, PV panels, are very good about replacing the energy it takes to manufacture them. Some silicon PV panels take less than 2 years to return their energy input, some silicon and all thin-film panels break even in less than one year.

Long term tests of PV solar (>20 years) show a <0.2% per year loss.

Your numbers stink.

By: Marijan Pollak

Marijan Pollak — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:34:00 +0000

I saw that one or something similar… Somebody was not thinking straight, since cars carrying magnets would have to spend more energy for traveling and therefore in the end burn more fuel. Contraproductive as polution would increase, and efficiency would be low, compared to direct burning of fuel to turn elčectricity generators.
Actually, in regard to PV plates that are considered “clean” energy source, somebody calculated that in order to produce them, more “dirty” electricity would be spent than what they would be able to produce in their work life. If someone add the fact of 10% loss of efficiency per year, I wonder how it is economical to use them at all :-((

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 18:41:00 +0000

I think someone worked out a couple of years ago that if all U.S. roads had piezoelectric generators incorporated you could power the entire U.S. from road traffic. So how’s that FDR infrastructure project coming Obama?

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:44:18 +0000

(A) , (B) Side of road, (C) Under power lines
(A) Parking lots is great. Additional benefits of produced where used, shapes cars from the sun so they are not a oven when you get back in.
(B) Side of road, not as good as (A) additional issue; but better than (C). There have pend posts here about all the problems with this, so I not repeat them.
(C) This mostly private land, a portion goes over gov land. A lot of if farm and ranch land. Until you get closer to the a city then it is peoples back yard. So someone will either decide to develop PV on their land or they will not. Counting this as somehow a special opportunity for solar just makes the chart look uninformed.