Comments on: Solar Powered City Concept http://www.igreenspot.com/solar-powered-city-concept/ Your daily source for green products and green innovations Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:57:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Ben http://www.igreenspot.com/solar-powered-city-concept/#comment-23 Ben Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:27:21 +0000 http://www.igreenspot.com/solar-powered-city-concept/#comment-23 The concept is noble, but don't expect San Fransisco to be soler powered by this design. Solar is inhibited by pre existing constraints such as electric infrastructure and cost/benefit analysis. While distributed power generation sounds cool, these limitations severely affect the actual decision process: it is cheaper for the city to pay for cleaner power PLANTS and use common sense power conservation polices than to support this plan. Thats no to say that this is a bad thing: my school now uses solar panels on the parking lot lamps to save energy costs. But the infrastructure was already there, and the panels were donated to the school. Not to mention no one uses pay phones anymore, news stands are falling out of favor in most cities and ATMs have moved inside. And why does every green concept have to revolve around large cites? shouldn't these designers work on making smaller towns green? The concept is noble, but don’t expect San Fransisco to be soler powered by this design. Solar is inhibited by pre existing constraints such as electric infrastructure and cost/benefit analysis. While distributed power generation sounds cool, these limitations severely affect the actual decision process: it is cheaper for the city to pay for cleaner power PLANTS and use common sense power conservation polices than to support this plan.
Thats no to say that this is a bad thing: my school now uses solar panels on the parking lot lamps to save energy costs. But the infrastructure was already there, and the panels were donated to the school.
Not to mention no one uses pay phones anymore, news stands are falling out of favor in most cities and ATMs have moved inside. And why does every green concept have to revolve around large cites? shouldn’t these designers work on making smaller towns green?

]]> By: Kevin http://www.igreenspot.com/solar-powered-city-concept/#comment-22 Kevin Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:37:10 +0000 http://www.igreenspot.com/solar-powered-city-concept/#comment-22 Works great if you ignore the physics and expense. That being said, solar is an excellent application for any isolated items that require intermittent amounts of small power. Therefore this concept may be enough to just barely break if placed on a phone booth, but otherwise I can't see it having any practical place in an urban environment (besides lining the wallets of businessmen, politicians, and other "environmentalists"). If I were to have my own city, it'd be run by one or two nuclear power plants. Period. Works great if you ignore the physics and expense. That being said, solar is an excellent application for any isolated items that require intermittent amounts of small power. Therefore this concept may be enough to just barely break if placed on a phone booth, but otherwise I can’t see it having any practical place in an urban environment (besides lining the wallets of businessmen, politicians, and other “environmentalists”).

If I were to have my own city, it’d be run by one or two nuclear power plants. Period.

]]> By: Tristan http://www.igreenspot.com/solar-powered-city-concept/#comment-21 Tristan Mon, 21 Apr 2008 04:52:30 +0000 http://www.igreenspot.com/solar-powered-city-concept/#comment-21 This looks like a great concept but considering the current state of our country I don't think it will materialize anytime soon. I'm all for saving energy and would love this to be implanted but I just don't think its going to happen This looks like a great concept but considering the current state of our country I don’t think it will materialize anytime soon. I’m all for saving energy and would love this to be implanted but I just don’t think its going to happen

]]> By: Will http://www.igreenspot.com/solar-powered-city-concept/#comment-20 Will Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:51:37 +0000 http://www.igreenspot.com/solar-powered-city-concept/#comment-20 This is a concept that needs to be taken up with government officials (congress) and if this idea were patented and made into a contract deal with the government then whoever has the patent would be making a hell of a lot of money. This is a concept that needs to be taken up with government officials (congress) and if this idea were patented and made into a contract deal with the government then whoever has the patent would be making a hell of a lot of money.

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