What is Digg?136 Comments
- rockyhooper, on 08/16/2008, -8/+156Your entire party has died of Dysentery.
- LaughingMan89, on 08/16/2008, -8/+72O_o
Where I'm from, roads don't run on electricity... - AngelBunny, on 08/16/2008, -3/+34wouldn't wind be more efficient than solar when it comes to a freeway? -genuine curiosity. i'm not saying that to put this article down. i think it is awesome what they are doing.
- Borgcube636, on 08/16/2008, -2/+25All of us 'hippies' over here in Oregon are doing more than most of you other states, hehe
- tbhurst, on 08/16/2008, -1/+22I like the deployment of solar for this type of application. That's crazy that it only provides 25% of the lighting for that interchange, though.
- Crakecake, on 08/16/2008, -2/+22More of this please...
- Dweller99, on 08/16/2008, -2/+21So are we.
sincerely,
Oregon - Nothlit, on 08/16/2008, -4/+22Some highways are lit, but many are not. The signs are highly reflective and most of the necessary light comes from passing cars...
- TBBucs, on 08/16/2008, -1/+17As an Oregon resident, I'm glad they're doing this, and I would gladly chip in some tax dollars to see this through.
- chrgrose, on 08/16/2008, -4/+20/start jackass comment/
I didn't know asphalt needed to be powered.
/end jackass comment/ - Culyt, on 08/16/2008, -2/+18Wouldn't it be better to put all the panels in the one area and just use the electricity to power the highway?
Since its obvious they need to be wired up along the road anyway since the system according to the article is feeding back into the grid, having them all in one place would make maintenance much easier (remember someone has to clean the bird poop off them.
There is also the issue of security, people may seal the panels, this is harder in a centralised secure location.
About the only benefit would be if there was a problem with the primary power route (cut wires, natural disaster, war, etc...) but normally solar panels will not work in a distributed fashion, normal house based systems will not work when the power grid is down because it costs money to install an inverter (more so when you need one for each panel) and there is safety issues for anyone working on the lines.
I think its partially greenwashing to provoke a "oh look at all the solar panels on the side of the road, Oregon is so cool.".
☢ - johndi, on 08/16/2008, -1/+15Why not both?
- Baskins, on 08/16/2008, -0/+12/start sarcastic reply/
Yes, in Oregon you really don't need spinning wheels on your car. Rather you just sit stationary and the roads will take you wherever you need to go.
/end sarcastic reply/ - TurdZilla, on 08/16/2008, -1/+13I am not from Oregon but i would gladly offer your tax dollars for this :-)
- Ploppyplop, on 08/16/2008, -0/+12I was just about to say - solar-panel coated wind turbines...
- inactive, on 08/16/2008, -0/+11Dugg for perfect depiction of Oregon weather in pic (I love it)
- matude, on 08/16/2008, -1/+11In Czech Republic they have small solar panels on most of light posts, parking machines and roadside cameras. No idea how much it helps but at least they're doing it..
But yep, small windturbines sound like a good idea, highway produces really high winds. - bladespirit, on 08/16/2008, -0/+9solar panels that double as sound barriers would be sweet! now if only we had a way to harness sound...
AAAAAAAAAAAAAA - surfmore, on 08/16/2008, -0/+9The article is written with the assumption that how a "road uses electricity" is common knowledge. When it's phrased that way, I think everyone had to pause and think about it for a second.
- TBBucs, on 08/16/2008, -0/+8This is a very good point. Since the energy is all sent to a single location (PGE) anyway, why spread out the solar panels?
- stonewall123, on 08/16/2008, -1/+9Yeah 25% is definitely a step in the right direction but improvements could be made. Those roadside lights tend to be very power hungry. To address that issue they should be using LED lighting which has really come a long way in the past few years. They are way more efficient (uses only ~5% of what conventional lightbulbs use), last a hell of a long time (50x longer than a conventional lightbulb) and I would guess those solar panels could provide enough coverage for ALL its energy needs if they were used. Those tend to cost a bit of money but in the long run they would easily pay for themselves.
- fajitamelt, on 08/16/2008, -0/+8/start serious reply/
Like that Tom Cruise movie?
/end serious reply/ - rogue780, on 08/16/2008, -1/+8As a fellow Oregonian I am against doing this. Solar power from Eastern Oregon is a much better idea.
- PabloMac, on 08/16/2008, -1/+8"Most" of the roads in Oregon wind and twist and are very close to rock cliffs? I must live in a different Oregon than you.
- MorganMghee, on 08/16/2008, -0/+6I can see his point though, have you ever sat stationary in your car on the side of a 70 mph freeway? Or stood out there? LOTS of wind generated. And the I5 corridor they are talking about actually creates it's own weather effect up here in washington, something about it's placement southward starting near a natural air stream down through the puget sound that banks off of the cascade foothills and would probably otherwise head back out over the sound and across to the olympic peninsula but ends up heading straight down wide swath of concrete cut through the treescape.
- inactive, on 08/16/2008, -0/+6*****!
- askantik, on 08/16/2008, -0/+6pwned.
- inactive, on 08/16/2008, -0/+6It may be a little bit of greenwashing but I know for fact PGE grids don't always intake from one central location. If this isn't then putting them all in one place isn't practical since you'll have to continue placing transformers up and down the highway which isn't cost effective.
I at least like that their doing something, if it's green-washing, that's okay, because it'll be promoting greener forms of energy which will become cheaper in the future instead of using coal. I'd rather the state pioneer into these technologies so that eventually we can get them for cheaper in the long run. Good for Oregon (Alabama where I live... it's like the bureaucrats don't ***** exist when it's time to work). - ravage86, on 08/16/2008, -8/+14Really? Dark interstates? Unlit signs? It sounds like you live in a very dangerous place, don't invite me over.
- yoda17, on 08/16/2008, -1/+7Build it 4 times bigger and it would be 100%. It comes down to economics - would you add enough capability for 100% at a cost of $10million this year or wait 5 years for the cost to come down to $1million. Numbers are made up, but this is the problem/question.
- Infidelcastr0, on 08/16/2008, -0/+5While it's true that from a pure cost/power produced standpoint alternative energy is not really very sensible you have to keep in mind certain other benefits, such as not having to buy hundreds of billions of dollars worth of oil from the saudis every year. Keeping that money in the domestic economy be a huge boon to us as a nation, not to mention the less dependent we are upon imports, the less dependent our society and economy are upon other countries (wouldn't that be nice)
Then of course there is the economic stimulus provided by large construction projects like this, as well as the new market that is starting to spring up in green technology (business is always looking for a new market, why not give em one right here in America?).
So while you are right that solar is not all that cost effective, sometimes you have to look at the bigger, strategic picture, rather than just looking for the best deal. - LowRentDiggs, on 08/16/2008, -0/+5"Seconded. $1.3 million for $6700/year return is insane for a bankrupt state..."
If you're only looking at the money saved in energy costs, you're right. This is not about saving some money in electricity costs, it's about creating a sustainable economy and luring progressive companies to Oregon to help build that economy.
$1 million to be in technology headlines around the world for a couple of years is most likely a bargain and the progressive tech reputation Oregon is building will be invaluable. One high-tech company opening shop in Oregon would more than pay for this project and 20 more like it. - rrlaw, on 08/16/2008, -0/+5In Oregon wind power will be much more efficient along I-84, which is right along the Columbia river gorge, a nature wind tunnel. I think there are some wind power turbine there already, I don't know how much though. It will be interesting to see how much power these solar cells will generate in the winter when that I-5 and I-205 interchange won't get much sun.
- bdbr, on 08/16/2008, -0/+4The days aren't long in the winter. We're driving to work and driving home in the dark.
- inactive, on 08/16/2008, -1/+5dont interject logic into this!
- vkiperman, on 08/16/2008, -0/+4Excellent!
- TheFinaleofSeem, on 08/16/2008, -0/+4Um, go to the east side of the state sometime. Plenty of sunshine.
- mattdev, on 08/16/2008, -1/+5The only problem is that it's hard to capture solar energy here in Oregon because of all the clouds and rain.
- kd1s, on 08/16/2008, -0/+4I've noted increasing use of solar for the ITS project going on here in Rhode Island. All the radio transmitters are solar powered. I wish the big ITS billboards were too.
There should be solar on all highways in the U.S. to pay for things like ITS, lighting, communications, etc. - inactive, on 08/16/2008, -0/+4Yep, which Isn't very good 'solar power' weather, but at least they're trying. Oregon's great.
- CodeRedPDX, on 08/16/2008, -0/+4Right. 'cept for I-5, I-84, Hwy 26....
- yoda17, on 08/16/2008, -0/+4I don't remember the physics involved, but the sound energy is far too low to be worth it (like micro watts). Power drops off as the inverse square.
- Jook, on 08/16/2008, -0/+4I sure love living in green, green Oregon!
- MrGiblets, on 08/16/2008, -0/+4While it may not be the most efficient, power and money wise, I'm sure they can use the experience gained from it (setting it up, maintenance, power usage, etc.) to make other solar projects better.
- StaGreenlee, on 08/16/2008, -0/+4It's funny that you should mention our farming practices. My grandmother owns a wheat farm out in Moro, OR (Central OR) and is slowly but surely turning it in to a wind farm. PGE is paying her something like $42,000 a year for x number of acres to set up wind turbines. It's getting more and more difficult for her to survive on wheat and barley alone, and the profit margin is much higher with wind since PGE pays for maintenance and installation.
Unfortunately I don't know how much energy she harnesses over there or how much it costs, but I do know that the wind mills are being erected all over the area so PGE must see some profit from it, and here in Portland we have an option on our electricity bill to receive a portion of our electricity from solar and wind. For a nominal fee, obviously. - Tkuebrich, on 08/16/2008, -0/+3True dat.
- OpenRevolt, on 08/16/2008, -3/+6Wind needs open spaces to work best and it takes up a lot space. Plus it has a lot of kinks, ie if the wind changes direction you are screwed and it has excessive moving parts that cost more to maintain.
A flat solar panel can be stuck anywhere in sunlight and work 12+ hours a day and as the technology rapidly improves, so does the amount of energy they are able to capture.
Solar is the future since panels will continue to become smaller, thinner and more efficient. It won't be long until we get to the point that solar panels power every house and will not only make you 100% energy independent, but you will be able to sell your excess power and be make a sizable income from it.
That is unless the government steps in and screws us all -- can't have people living in a utopia. What's the power-trip in that? - veijeri, on 08/16/2008, -0/+3The main problem with roads (trails, if you will) in Oregon is the constant need to ford rivers, unless you pay to cross a ferry or have a native show you an easier path.
- Tonydelkisgood, on 08/16/2008, -0/+3There certainly isn't much sun either.
- MrGiblets, on 08/16/2008, -0/+3Yeah, it wasn't completely filled with cars not moving. :)
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