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Thieves Swipe a Portion of China's Solar Road

posted by cmn32480 on Thursday January 11 2018, @12:29AM   Printer-friendly
from the shocking-turn-of-events dept.

Fnord666 writes:

Solar roads have plenty of potential problems, such as damage and snow, but theft? Apparently that's a concern, too. China's Qilu Evening News reported that thieves carved out a small (5.9in by 73in) portion of an experimental road in Jinan on January 2nd, a mere five days after its December 28th debut. While it's tempting to suggest this was an accident, officials said the missing segment was "neatly cut," and didn't appear to have come loose on its own.

The segment has since been repaired. An investigation is ongoing, but there aren't any identified culprits as of this writing.

Source: https://www.engadget.com/2018/01/07/thieves-take-portion-of-china-solar-road/

Previously: Solar Generating Roads
Solar Roadway not Quite so Practical
SolaRoad Cycle Path Electricity Yield Exceeds Expectations
World's First Solar Panel Road Opens in Normandy Village
Georgia Tests New Solar Road

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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 11 2018, @12:46AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 11 2018, @12:46AM (#620738)

    A solar road has no chances of economical viability - thus it classifies in the "piece of art" category.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 11 2018, @11:13AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 11 2018, @11:13AM (#620884)

      The Roads Must Roll

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 11 2018, @11:46AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 11 2018, @11:46AM (#620896)

      North Korea needed a power source for their Kerbal Space Program.

  • (Score: 4, Funny) by jmorris on Thursday January 11 2018, @01:22AM (2 children)

    by jmorris (4844) on Thursday January 11 2018, @01:22AM (#620751)

    So the real question for solar roads is this: Do they even generate enough power to operate the extensive security system that will be required to stop people from stealing them?

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by tftp on Thursday January 11 2018, @02:04AM

      by tftp (806) on Thursday January 11 2018, @02:04AM (#620760) Homepage
      In order to survive, any piece of the road cannot have value that can attract attention of the poorest elements of the society. Our roads are safe because even the poorest hobo has no way to sell a piece of asphalt or concrete and make a profit.

    • (Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday January 11 2018, @02:44AM

      by Bot (3902) on Thursday January 11 2018, @02:44AM (#620775) Journal

      > Do they even generate enough power to operate the extensive security system that will be required to stop people from stealing them?

      Assuming the security system is built for the roads and not the other way round, you mean?

      --
      Account abandoned.

  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 11 2018, @02:52AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 11 2018, @02:52AM (#620778)

    Stolen? No, someone just wanted to borrow the blueprint without paying for the blueprint. In an "unrelated" mystery, a year from now Siemens (or whoever invested in this heavily) suddenly "lose the contract" in China and a new "home-grown" Chinese company mints a new multi-billionaire, producing .. solar roads and related products.

    • (Score: 2) by chromas on Thursday January 11 2018, @11:09AM

      by chromas (34) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 11 2018, @11:09AM (#620879) Journal

      That is, if they can find enough suckers to sell to. Well, I guess that won't be a problem. The concept of solar roads is severely retarded for at least 135 reasons.

  • (Score: 2) by drussell on Thursday January 11 2018, @05:31AM (2 children)

    by drussell (2678) on Thursday January 11 2018, @05:31AM (#620811) Journal

    There is a bunch of discussion about this absolutely comical farce over the past couple of years over in these threads:

    http://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-632-solar-roadways-are-bullshit!/ [eevblog.com]

    http://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-850-french-wattway-solar-roadways-bullshit/ [eevblog.com]

    http://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-1047-solar-roadways-finally-busted-colas-wattway/ [eevblog.com]

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIuiZh5t9_Y [youtube.com]

    etc. etc...

    Well worth the time to read some of the :facepalm: for anyone interested....

  • (Score: 2, Disagree) by CoolHand on Thursday January 11 2018, @02:48PM (1 child)

    by CoolHand (438) on Thursday January 11 2018, @02:48PM (#620943) Journal
    I've seen documentaries on the shady Bitcoin factories they have over there. My bet is these were stolen to power those.. Free power would be a cheap way to mine..
    --
    Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job-Douglas Adams

    • (Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 11 2018, @07:38PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 11 2018, @07:38PM (#621054)

      China is banning *ALL* bitcoin activity in China, whether mining, or brokering off-chain transactions, as is South Korea.

      The result of this is that 60 percent of processing power may either get dumped on the international market, scrapped, or used when bitcoin declines to attempt a 34 to 51 percent attack to coopt the blockchain.

      Whichever situation happens it is likely to signficantly depress the bitcoin economy at least for a while.

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