Legacy Fan

Doesn't the rust belt resurface roads every winter or so (1-2 years maybe)?

Wonder how much is spent doing that...

Yeah, Im sure these things will have some durability issues.

But the roof's: Why don't the giant ass Data farms place these on their roofs? They are energy HOGS and this would benefit their bottom line tremendously (not to mention help the environment, and consumers).

Depends on whether they are manufactured in China or the United States in a union shop with a government subsidy.

 

For home use it would have to be pretty reasonable since I think what electric bill is usually well less than a hundred bucks a month.

I also wonder about how durable they would be here in an Ohio winter.

As it is we are constantly doing major repairs to something as simple as gravel and asphalt.

I would hope that the generated power would offset d building and maintenance cost.

WSS

Exactly. How do these react to 6 tons of salt every winter?

Chris-

So much of our infrastructure is in poor shape in need of replacing (there were some bridge collapse fiascos a few years back) that it makes the most sense to use this tech while replacing/repairing it.

This would make the most sense in Cities / suburbs, and the highways/beltways that feed them. This is where the majority of the power is being consumed, start there first. Doesn't make too much sense to run 50 linear miles of the stuff to service 15-20 homes in the middle of nowhere. At least at first. Give those guys the Roof replacement. (Shingles are made of asphalt, and so are roads)

A $600 bil failure of a website would be a good down payment to get the ball rolling.

How about the $800 bil bailout to Wall Street? Time to collect, gentlemen.

This is a phenomenal idea, btw (and oil companies would only be second in line to Big Coal to block it).