The concrete blocks are slowly hoisted upwards by motors powered with electricity from the Swiss power grid. As each block descends, the motors that lift the blocks start spinning in reverse, generating electricity that courses through the thick cables running down the side of the crane and onto the power grid. In the 30 seconds during which the blocks are descending, each one generates about one megawatt of electricity: enough to power roughly 1,000 homes.
Reminder of the amount of money and resources spent trying (without succeeding) by multiple independent companies to put solar panels on various roads in the US and Europe. Before anyone had even considered putting solar panels on the roofs of buildings in the area.
Solar Roadways! One of the most blatant ‘open scams’ I’ve seen. Thunderf00t made several videos about their progress and even drove to their demo installation to have a laugh.
The concept on its face is just so stupid when rooftop solar is already an extremely mature field, and most roofs in cities don’t have solar panels. Why are you starting your solarification with a project requiring monumental engineering breakthroughs when you haven’t even exhausted the easy options that have been working for decades? Put solar panels on all the roofs first, then look into novel places for them (even then, I doubt putting them on the road surface will ever be practical).
It’s also kind of sad because you can tell that the Solar Roadways guys do actually believe in their concept (otherwise they’d have eloped with everyone’s money years ago). It’s just incredibly misguided, ignorant of the physics and tech involved, topped with good old overconfidence.
Why run away when you can just make more money continually while being an amateur?