So here is a hilarious video about a technology someone is developing that needs some financial support.
Personally I’d love to see this, or something like this, instituted. We are at a time where technology can solve a significant amount of our problems but we’re being held back by commercialism and the need to make a profit. For profit corporations, who have the capital do things like this, can’t because it wouldn’t be economically feasible, but we, as a society, can use crowdfunding to give money to the people who are willing to make today and tomorrow a better place, even if they don’t make a profit.
That isn’t’ to say I’m not hesitant myself. Their prototypes honestly look kinda ugly close up, and the LED idea is really neat but I’d like to see actual pictures of the LED system, in broad daylight, and up close. But when I think about it, asphalt really isn’t all that pretty either. And there are questions of maintenance. How often will streets need to be cleaned to keep them energy-efficient, for example? Plus there are people who staunchly feel solar technology is the savior people like to make it out to be. What happens when newer technology comes out?
The best I can say is that these questions will be addressed, or this will never catch on, but we won’t find a perfect solution, nor any solution without trying. Solar panel technology been progressing steadily in both efficiency of energy gathering and efficiency of cost over the last decade. The proposed hexagonal system appears modular enough to be upgradable as newer breakthroughs are made. Cleaning might be easily done with current street sweeping technology.
Ultimately I think this could be a significant investment in the future, and it is worth taking a gamble on.
