Plastics are being developed now which can store charges (batteries), conduct electricity, produce light (flexible television screens), and I would not doubt- also provide magnetic properties. By adding silicon in different property levels of ionic charge distributions, according to the movement of electrons flowing from lower energy voids to higher, solar activation of propulsions would be easily achieved, stored, and be made available to all in need of energy supplies.

Charge current could be supplied to moving vehicles as they travel and vehicles would never need to leave the road to charge. This could be achieved by proximity of tires to the road through conductive wires located within the tires or even by methods not easily explained other than in laymen’s terms. There are methods of charging by magnetic proximity which would be enhanced due to movement. Advances in understanding the magnetic properties associated to moving aluminum allow the use of aluminum in products not to mention the use of plastics for lightweight materials of vehicles. Carbon fiber materials are perspective as well.

All surfaces of vehicles, buildings, and walkways are possible locations for the development of solar power generating surfaces.

The importance of developing systems which cover roadways are unlimited. The system should be developed with the perspective of controlling vehicles; propelling vehicles by magnetic pulse, future levitation of vehicles by mirror action magnetic repulsion now seen in superconductive materials, traffic control, and accident prevention. Tracking of all users as well as communication and information and data transfer should be implemented into the construction process. Management of surface durability and ice prevention are also benefits.

The future of vehicle self-drive systems would be highly manageable due to the construction of these roadways as well as national security. As the use of liquid fuel engines would become obsolete in the near future, everyone on the roadways could be easily accounted for at all times.

The idea certainly makes me think…I love questions that make me ponder "now why didn’t I think of that? It makes sense!" I’d like to answer a few questions and concerns which other answerers have brought to light.

Semi-trucks can’t stop hauling because America lives through the goods the truckers haul. And up here in MN, the river barges bring up alot of goods, but they can only run when the river isn’t frozen…we’d be in big trouble without the truckers running in the winter months.

The current road workers would simply switch materials, instead of laying asphalt and concrete, they’d lay solar panels and electrical wiring. And as for the oil industry employees, they can help maintain the new roadways. With a project like this, there’ll be plenty to do and there’ll be people who need that work.

If we can go from home-spun and wooden farm implements to tv and cell phones in 200 years, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to go from asphalt and oil to solar panels and magnetic cars in another 200. The colonists would never have dreamed of the things we have now, the inventions we’ve come up with. So it’s understandable that we now can’t fathom using solar panels for roadways.

How will erasing our dependancy on oil and building electro-magnetic interstate highways revert us into a 3rd world country? We’d still be thriving and expanding, we’d be moving forward. Some 3rd world countries still have public plumbing in the streets and walk further everyday for dry wood to heat their homes and hearths.

What WOULD the durability of these panels be? Would we have to reduce speed limits (which increases travel time, thus making a moot issue of conservancy and prevention) so there’d potentially be fewer accidents?

As for Star Trek, you should have watched the show titled something like "How William Shatner Changed the World". The guy who invented cell phones got the idea from Kirk’s communicator that he was constantly flipping out of his pocket.

I’d be willing to take part in such a venture as this, but I need more research done and stats provided because I can’t answer anything about another person’s concerns about CO2 or heat or friction. Plus, I have a question of my own. In the regions that get snow, plus those that flood, how will we prevent the electricity from shorting out? If I’m reading the original proposition correctly, electricity keeps traffic moving. Traffic standing still is generally something seen in big cities (or construction on the I-90 bridge here, LOL) So would little burbs of 50K people have traffic jams like LA notoriously does if the electricity shorts out?

Given that typical output of a solar panel is 12 watts per square foot, one would need about 167 square feet of solar panels to operate a car, which is about a 13 ft by 13 ft square. this is not unreasonable for a rooftop, but may be a bit costly.

However, the process of storing power in a car’s battery, then using it to power a car is less efficient than directly using it in your home, as most solar panels are used.

1. It is not commercially viable.
2. It is not and probably never well be technically viable.

1) Commerce.

As those posting before me rightly explain, solar cells are very expensive, and the prototype cars built by Honda to carry just one person with no luggage at speeds of upto 50mph cost over a million dollars to build.

2) Technical Limits.

A family car today uses about 30 Kilowatts of energy (the same as 15 hairdryers) and needs this much to haul you and your luggage about.

As a poster above has pointed out, solar cells only convert about 20% of sunlight to electricity, but on top of that, only about 1Kw of sunlight falls on every square metre….

What this means is, with present technology, a family car would need a 150 Square Metre solar sail to supply it enough power to move, in full sunlight on a clear day. Which isnt really very practical as the roof size of a typical car is only 4-5 square metres.

The situation for boats and trains is no better.

Solar power is a good solution for things like heating water or supplying electricity to your home, but for powering cars and the like, there just isn’t enough energy in the sun to make it work for the types of cars most of us drive (i.e. that carry several people and luggage). And a prototype vehicle that can do 50mph carrying one (slim) person and no luggage can only reach 40-50mph on the flat, and costs over $1,000,000 to build.

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Technorati Tags: airplane, flight, plane, power, solar, UAV, unmanned

The potential wind energy available in the lower 48 states is on the order of 1200 gigawatts, with another 900 gigawatts of potential on the continental shelves.  The potential from solar energy is quite a bit more; wind energy is just solar energy after conversion through a rather inefficient heat engine.

EDIT:  This is quite a bit less electricity than we generate today.  Average US electric generation is about 460 GW (second link), while total nameplate generating capacity is over 1000 GW.

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Technorati Tags: Aircraft, airplane, Control, Powered, Radio, Sailplane, solar

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Duration : 0:9:39

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