Solar Roadways

     In 2006, two electric engineers introduced the idea of solar panel roadways to form smart roads. It is a company and idea that has taken solar energy to new heights.

     So how does it work? Solar power cells convert sunlight into electricity by using the energy of speeding protons to create an electric current within the solar panel. These intelligent solar panels, which are shaped in hexagonal forms, are covered in a tempered glass material that has been designed to accommodate the maximum weight and traction requirements. They have LED lights to create the pavement lines and warning and with simple reprogramming can be changed to fit the needs, which is much easier than having to repaint it. 

These smart solar panels will use the suns energy and distribute it to surrounding areas, making it a decentralized system. This offers more security because even if somehow the roadways are destroyed, only the ones that were damaged would stop producing energy. The distribution of the energy is simple. a cable corridor would be placed that runs along side the road. These corridors are much safer than things like telephone poles because they are protected by bad weather. Other companies are also excited to store their cables in the cable corridor because of the safety and the easy access.

What are the negative consequences to solar roadways? very few actually, making this a very clean way to produce energy. The company uses as much recycled material as possible. The only risk is releasing greenhouse gases during manufacturing. 

The Solar Investment Tax Credit, which began in 2008 with an 8 year extension, is a good way to encourage more people to invest in solar energy and support solar roadways. It reduces the tax liability for people and businesses that purchase qualifying solar energy technologies. 

The cost of installing hundreds of  thousands of panels will obviously be expensive, but having to mass produce these will create thousands of jobs for our country. These solar roadways will also pay for itself, because they will produce 3x as much power as we do now. Many are also skeptical about the safety of the solar panels and how they will withstand certain weather. They are worried about the traction, how much weight it can hold, and how these panels will work in the rain. 

http://www.seia.org/policy/finance-tax/solar-investment-tax-credit

http://www.solarroadways.com/intro.shtml

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Department-of-Transportation-Official-Discusses-Solar-Roadways

http://solarpowerisfun.weebly.com/negative-aspects.html

Halifax Explosion

On December 6, 1917 a large French cargo ship carrying tons of wartime explosives set sail from Halifax, Novia Scotia to Bordeaux, France. This ship, called the Mont Blanc, was barely off shores when it collided with the vessel SS Imo in the Narrows. This vessel was sailing to New York to get relief supplies for the war. The collision was at a very slow speed, just 1 or 1.5 mph. The Mont Blanc caught fire and very quickly got out of the crewman’s control, so everyone aboard abandoned ship and rowed to Dartmouth, leaving the ship to burn and sink.The ship sailed its way over to the Halifax harbor. The fire soon spread to the waterfront of Halifax, where spectators had gathered to watch the display.   

 

20 minutes after the crash, a fire ignited a catastrophic explosion that ripped through the districts of Halifax, killing 2,000 from debris, fire, and collapsing buildings and injuring 9,000 more. The explosion was the second largest man-made explosion, behind the atomic bomb. The explosion, however, did not just effect Halifax. The power of the explosion created a tsunami that crashed into the shores of Dartmouth, killing people and children that were viewing the explosion from that standpoint. 

There were many vulnerabilities that led to the fire and the explosion. The crew of the Mont Blanc were obviously careless with their cargo. They also could not prevent the fire from getting bigger because they did not have the equipment on the ship to diminish the inferno.

        

  Another vulnerability of this disaster was that the rescue and relief efforts were busy with the blizzard that had struck the region earlier that night. This slowed down their efforts of getting to the site of the disaster. 

Halifax after the explosion

Halifax before the explosion