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posted by on Tuesday February 07 2017, @02:14PM   Printer-friendly
from the perfect-for-sunny-days dept.

http://www.curbed.com/2017/2/6/14521102/highway-the-ray-solar-power-transportation From the article:

Highways have never been the sexiest infrastructure projects, but Allie Kelly, the executive director of The Ray, believes that preconception will shift dramatically over the next few years due to rapid technological shifts. With politicians in Washington discussing the administration's ambitious infrastructure plans, now is the time to make investments in our transportation system. As far as Kelly is concerned, that vision should focus on achieving zero deaths, zero carbon, and zero waste. She hopes The Ray can serve as the laboratory where new ideas and revenue models are tried, tested, and proven possible.

"We're at a tipping point in transportation," says Kelly. "In five to ten years, we won't remember a time when we invested a dime in infrastructure spending for a road that only did one thing."

[...] Initially, the vision for The Ray was to add a solar installation in the median, along with a wildflower garden, to remind drivers about the environmental costs of the transportation system. But the results of the study suggested a more dramatic plan was needed. Since then, The Ray, in concert with the Georgia Department of Transportation, has slowly rolled out a number of new initiatives to improve both safety and sustainability. In 2015, a new electric charging station powered in part by photovoltaic panels, a joint project with funding from Kia Motors, became the first in the state.

This past year, the Ray added a strip of Wattway solar panels to an entrance ramp, and installed a WheelWright tire pressure sensor at a rest stop right next to the Alabama state line. The new British device helps drivers quickly test and maintain proper tire pressure, a leading cause of crashes.

Over the next year, the foundation plans to add more new tests that will help build out a more holistic roadway. A one megawatt solar installation will be installed in a right-of-way as part of a joint effort with Georgia Power to turn the highway into a place for power generation, and a series of bioswales—landscaped drainage ditches that naturally filter pollution—will turn the areas adjacent to the highway into more clean, sustainable, and natural landscapes.

"We're pushing the idea that these kind of installations can become widespread energy generation system for state departments of transportation," says Kelly. "Highways can eventually make money, and even serve as a power grid for the future."

Previous stories on solar roads and pathways:
Solar Generating Roads
SolaRoad Cycle Path Electricity Yield Exceeds Expectations


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  • (Score: 2) by requerdanos on Tuesday February 07 2017, @05:06PM

    by requerdanos (5997) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 07 2017, @05:06PM (#464144) Journal

    In 2015, a new electric charging station powered in part by photovoltaic panels, a joint project with funding from Kia Motors, became the first in the state.

    "powered in part by" is handwaving for "mostly not powered by". According to their press release [PDF] [hannahsolar.com] for the Kia-funded solar charging station, they say that their solar panels can generate

    more than 4,360 kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually.

    So 4360 kWh per year generated by the solar array, all of which, according to the press release, goes straight into the grid.

    Now an electric car, depending on battery capacity and charge amount at the start of charging, is going to take somewhere between 40 and 100 kWh for a full charge. (A Tesla Model S, for example, is available with a 60kWh up to a 100kWh battery, and charging from empty would take a little more than battery capacity because of slight inefficiency.) Let's say 60 kWh for a full charge to be conservative.

    And let's say further that only 2 cars take advantage of the charger every 24 hours. 2 cars a day isn't going to revolutionize transportation in Georgia, USA or anywhere else, but baby steps.

    So, 2 cars a day * 60 kWh * ~365.24 days in a year = ~43828 kWh used in a year by the charging station.

    If we're charitable and grant that the solar array (which is very pretty, see pics in the press release) puts out the full 4360 kWh for the year, that means that less than 10% of the juice provided by the charging station would come from those sexy pv panels. Even if it sat almost completely idle, servicing only 1 car a day on average at that low 60 kWh estimate--or if the 2 daily cars only needed 30 kWh to top up--less than 20% of the juice would come from "sunshine."

    Yet in that press release,

    Commissioner Tim Echols of the Georgia Public Service Commission[:] “We are actually driving on sunshine here and it is very exciting,” said Echols. “Usually you’re driving with power off the grid and you’re not actually sure where it’s from. Today we are going right from this sunshine into the level three charger.” [Emphasis added]

    I am sure that Commissioner Echols is a very nice, hard-working guy, but judging from this quote, he's also at the least economical with the truth.

    Point of this missive: Take claims such as "powered in part by solar energy" (or nonsense like "riding on sunshine") to mean "powered by totally not solar energy with perhaps a tiny bit of solar thrown in" until proven otherwise.

    Solar will prove itself through availability and falling costs, or it won't. There's no need to exaggerate or outright lie for it, right?

    Maybe they should eventually build five or ten of those solar arrays at each charging station.

    Peace.

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