I don’t know if this is insane or inspired . . .
Swedish architect Mans Tham recently proposed we enclose highways with solar panels.
Specifically exploring the concept as it pertains to Los Angeles’ Santa Monica Freeway, Thams’ idea “would see 24km (15 miles) of LA’s Santa Monica Freeway covered in solar panels – with an average width of 40m (131 ft), that adds up to an area of 960,000 m2 (10,333,354 Sq Ft), enough space for 600,000 domestic panels, which could generate 150 GWh per year. That’s more than enough to provide electricity to all the households of Venice, California.”
Read the full story here at Gizmag.
Architect Mans Tham's Solar Serpent. Image from Mans Tham.
The Solar Serpent from inside. Image from Mans Tham.
Image from Mans Tham.
Thanks to LX for pointing this one out!
7 Comments
Brilliant idea. Maybe they can have solar panels on gondola cabins too n use the energy to power the system!
Yeah, but those PV’s cover the whole track and solar panels on a cabin would be like a drop of water on a hot stone. I think you can find the same idea in the Rheinseilbahn Koblenz Vehicle topic >> https://www.gondolaproject.com/2010/09/14/the-koblenz-rheinseilbahn-part-2-the-vehicles/ << or another one of the rheinseilbahn parts.
Anyway, even if all towers and stations would be covered, it wouldn't be enough to power the whole system. The advantage of a cable car is using the minimum of construction. Ropes and towers. That makes the surface area really small.
@ LX & Mono,
Yeah, I was just kind of asking about the idea in general, not as something to apply to gondolas/cable cars.
@Steven: I was aware of that, but wanted to answer Mono.
Here is another idea along the same lines: http://goo.gl/p4NQm
@ Sean
I’ve seen that before and I’m not sure how practical it is. After all, when the roads are crammed with cars, then the roads aren’t going to be collecting much sun. Furthermore, what I like about the serpent idea is that it doesn’t require all new roads. The solar road, on the other hand would require entire new infrastructure which would drive up the price astronomically.
Using PV instead of asphalt is a good idea i think.
Theoretically: the “road” has to be made out of something. Let’s just assume the asphalt we’ve got right now gets a layer of photo voltaic collectors ( already existing for roofs -> http://wohnen.pege.org/2007-intersolar/flachdachdichtung.jpg ). There also is development for a photo voltaic spray.
So your car could also be covered by a PV layer. So if you are running out of energy in the middle of nowhere you just let your car have a sun bath and a few hours later your able to use it again. And “when the roads are crammed with cars, then” the sun is still used for its power over the whole area – even when a car is on it.
In mind those are two good solutions I think 🙂