Solar panels to further beautify J-highway barriers

[Taro Toporific]

[floatl][/floatl]

Solar panels may line highways
Jan 4, 2011 / The Daily Yomiuri
Expressway companies around the country are considering renting out unused space in their nationwide web of superhighways, such as on their sound-insulating walls, to utility companies for solar power generation...
The move comes as the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry hopes to introduce--as early as fiscal 2012--a system under which electric power companies would buy the full amount of renewable energy generated by households and corporations, including electricity produced by solar and wind power...more...

[IkemenTommy]

It's either concrete(tm) or solar panel. Your pick.

[Yokohammer]

It's either concrete(tm) or solar panel. Your pick.

At least with solar panels you know they're doing some good (presumably).
Concrete just sits there and looks ugly, even though it might actually be preventing the side of the mountain it's on from falling on your head.

[Taro Toporific]

[Mike Oxlong]

Oregon started a similar pilot project back in 2008, and one industry homepage claims that it was successful and more are planned...

[jingai]

If it rains the soot gets washed away. In places like California crap-build up is an issue but everywhere it rains it isn't. Also Tokyo requires particulate filters on any trucks that enter.

Are the Japanese panels bad? It's most of what I see here in the states.

[Taro Toporific]

If it rains the soot gets washed away.

Nope.
If you owned a car in Tokyo you would know the "soot" is a sticky grime because of the added adulterants to the diesel. Elbow grease is required to get full output for cells. Rain does not wash off the "soot" unless you use the hyper-expensive, self-cleaning, thin film titanium dioxide coating (but such laminations are fraught with problems and reduced power efficiency).

but everywhere it rains it isn't

Nope.
The solar cells on my "veranda" need to scrubbed clean every 2-3 days. After one week without thorough cleaning, my solar cell efficiency drops 20% from the Tokyo grime, diesel-infused cedar pollen, and the dread Chinese "Yellow Sand".

Also Tokyo requires particulate filters on any trucks that enter.

Not really.
Tokyo "requires" particulate filters but those filters are only checked during shaken. All---I repeat ALL--Tokyo trucking companies swap-out the factory-spec filters with reusable "free-flow" filters at the first 1,500km service period. The free-flow filters are just regular a roll of regular window screening packed in a canister.

Are the Japanese panels bad? It's most of what I see here in the states.

The Japanese solar cells have the worst price-performance ratio on the planet.
Japan has great solar-cell technologies but absurd prices. For some bizarre[color="Gray"]/greedy[/color] reason, the actual solar cells themselves constitute only 15% of the total cost of Japanese solar panels. Korea and China solar cells have much better price-performance ratios.

Full-disclosure: I have been seed investor for amorphous silicon solar cell tech and have used/maintained various types of solar cells for comparison for more than 30 years. The cells are a fun hobby but require real dedication to maintenance get a proper payback (<5yrs). Sadly, solar cells still are not a%

[dimwit]

To me the big problem with solar panels on highways is that they become targets of roadside projectiles (pebbles and crap falling off of cars) that they quickly would become rutted and sandblasted. I can't imagine that would be great for the effeciency of the panels.