Well lets start with something that everybody uses. We all use the sun, we all use the air, we all use some sort of sustenance. Since we have food and air down for the most part lets look at the sun. The sun is one of our biggest proponents for life here on this planet. It generates energy and gives life to a lot of the plants and animals here on Earth. One of the many tricks it has is that even though it is trillions of miles away, it can still project its heat energy to us. What if we could harness that energy? What would we be able to do? The amount of money that we could save would be off the charts. Sure we already have windmills and water turbines that generate energy from the currents and breezes. We also have chemical energy plants that generate energy from toxic chemicals substances. All of these methods have one thing in common. It takes energy to make energy. With solar energy, there are no moving parts! It is just a panel that collects energy from sunlight naturally gleaming on its panels! It doesn't get much simpler than that. Now how can we make it even easier? Well thanks to some very creative and innovative people, we have these things called solar panels that convert this solar energy into electrical energy in a realistic way.
A couple that took this idea one step further go by the names of Scott and Julie Brusaw when they came up with the idea of solar panel roadways. Here at their website http://www.solarroadways.com/intro.shtml they go over every aspect of their idea. Every prototype, every accident, and all the future projects are on here. This website is the basis for everything that I want to do from here on out. These people have come up with a brilliant idea of replacing the asphalt roadways that need constant repair and are a huge hazard to the environment, with the more efficient and versatile solar panel roadways. In the coming weeks I will go into more depth of how I want to be involved and how I want to bring this idea to George Mason University!
Resources:
Brusaw, S. (2014, January 1). Introduction to Solar Panel Roadways. Retrieved November 16, 2014, from http://www.solarroadways.com/intro.shtml
Hey Wallace, wow solar roadways seems so cool I have never heard of this before. It would be a great change and advancement but how much would it cost to make all that possible and how long would that take? I know that in the end we would be saving so much money, lives, and energy but would the government pay for this kind of thing? Also, I was thinking as I was watching the video about not needing tax money to shovel the roadways but how many people would lose their job? Would it be a significant amount of people? Such as construction workers who fix roadways and things like that. Thank you so much for sharing this was really cool!
ReplyDeleteWallace,
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly encourage you to heavily pursue this because it is a very interesting topic and I am excited to hear more about it all. This would definitely be an expensive change to the world but maybe in the long run would save money? Eliminating the cost for road salts and shovels would save so much money for the state and federal government. I definitely have thought about this myself about how my steep driveway could use it since it is very dangerous when it snows. I am interested in reading more about this. Keep up the good work!!!!!!
Wallace,
ReplyDeleteI found your topic very interesting and I am glad you are writing about it because it has made me do more research on the topic. I heard about it once before but really didn’t do indepth research on the topic. I think it can save lives and even save tax payer money that is being used to build the current roads of today. However, my only concern is the price for this technology and having people who are qualified enough to fix a panel if it ever malfunctioned or was damaged in anyway.
(Posting again, not sure if my comments are showing up and take a while to process or there's just a glitch in the system)
ReplyDeleteI really like the title! It's attention getting, is a popular reference that everyone can get, relates to the subject at hand in a creative way, and sets in a positive mood in the reader and works well with the background. I liked the intro, it was exciting and relatable to me as an average person, though it was a little on the longer side, and took up a significant portion of the blog post. While it held my attention, it may not hold the attention of others who are used to reading small amounts of information at one time, and skimming through blogs. Overall very good.
Wallace,
ReplyDeleteI actually was quite interested in this project when I first read it a while ago. I'm glad that someone choose to write about it and your title is catchy just like the song, but in this case it should be Driving on Sunshine. You asked a lot of questions in your blog and that includes the reader and invokes thought which is good. Your first paragraph really draws in the reader by relating to them directly. Try to incorporate that even more and it will turn your entire blog into an enjoyable read.
I think your post is talking about a very important topic that doesn't get enough attention these days. The problem with our society is we are so willing to take the easiest route from point A to point B it makes things very difficult for us in the future. No one stopped to think about how an economy reliant on energy consumption would act in the future let alone the environment. Even now, when people are more aware of the risks we still face issues of inaction and complacency. I thought your blog post was good in bringing up this discussion.
ReplyDeleteWallace,
ReplyDeleteI really found this topic interesting. The first few sentences of your article pulled me in and got me to keep reading. Harnessing the energy of the sun? That sounds crazy! At first I didn't realize you were going the solar panel route, and thought the idea of harnessing the energy of the sun was very far-fetched. I do like your topic, although I think the information could have been better communicated if you described, in simple terms, how the whole process works, rather than just posting a link. But overall, awesome topic and I will definitely be back to read more!
Hey Wallace,
ReplyDeleteSolar energy is definitely going to be part of the future industry. Currently companies are incorporating solar energy into their products, like a car for example. The question I have for you though is, isn't there other forms of energy that are even better? Like hydrogen engines for cars, which their only byproduct is water. Also the worlds population is increasing, doesn't solar energy take up plenty of land?
You’re topic is quite interesting but this final post leaves me wondering more about it. Are there any laws prohibiting the use of solar panels in a country? I know that once we switch, if we do, that many jobs are going to be eliminated which I believe will be detrimental to many hard workers in the U.S. every day. This becomes the question; do we want to eliminate jobs for an idea that may not even work? Yes later on this may be cost efficient but building these will create a huge buzz since they are very expensive and not proven yet to be effective.
ReplyDelete