Imagine if there was a way to replace sidewalks, streets, and driveways with solar panels? The energy output would be incredible. If the panels were covered with a thick clear plastic that allowed light to get through but protected the panels from rain and damage. They would be strong enough to be driven over by cars of all sorts. If there were also solar panels on all the houses a city would be amazingly sustainable.

That would be great! We can use less electricity and more solar power to do a lot of things. This can lead to a change in our lifestyle and by using less electricity, the carbon footprint for houses will also go down because we can use solar power instead.

This is a really cool idea! I wonder if it would be possible for a project like this to be funded by the government, since the solar panels could be put on public streets, sidewalks, etc. It seems that a significant problem with solar energy currently is that it is very costly to set up just a few panels, so it is not able to become a widespread source of energy. By having a potentially government funded solar energy grid system, where panels are put across large public spaces and the collected energy is distributed throughout towns, solar energy could become a more significant source of our energy supply.

That would be awesome! The sun produces enough energy to power the entire world every second, and that would help catch more energy.
However, it costs something to the earth to make those, so be sure to make them energy efficient!
Also, there is a street in hong kong that is mostly solar tiles. I mean, its kinda useless, because its completely covered in pollution clouds 88% of the time, but its a step in the right direction!

I agree, that sounds like a great idea, it is very futuristic. It also is very sustainable. People would not have to use tons of energy that is not reusable. On the other hand it would be a little expensive to pay for the tiles and to pay people to install and maintain them.

Solar panels for the ground! What a great idea! The biggest boundary for that would have to be cost/ availability. Although solar panels save lots of money in the long run (check out this Boston Globe article- https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/r … story.html ), we still have lots of work to do as far as making them affordable and quick to create.

I believe that there are a number of issues with this. First off, if they were to be put in place of sidewalks, then many of the trees that are near them would result in very little sunlight hitting the panels. Secondly the materials to create such a material that would cover the panels would not only be extremely expensive, but some of the chemicals would have to come from the oil industry, which would undermine the entire point of such a project. Unfortunately, this idea seems to be a ways off into the future, if it is even possible in the first place.

That would be very cool and help our economy save money and it is very sustainable. Although  it could be very expensive to put in and maintain. The change of solar panels as our roads and streets could affect plant growth in ways that you may not expect. Many trees and plants grow near or next to side walks and streets and it could change there growth. The solar panels also could get very hot especially if we will be walking on them. It is a very cool idea, but i'm not sure how realistic it is.

I think scientists need to chop chop chop on this idea. This needs to exist yesterday! I totally agree that we could have so much power and we would basically never run out since we would be getting sunlight from all over. I think everyone could save money on this, we would just need to make sure the cost of the panels isn't too high. Since solar panels are pretty expensive right now, having millions of them would be pretty costly, but I bet someone could figure the money problem out. I think this is a step in the right direction.

If I remember correctly, I recall seeing a CNN article covering a similar topic. Scientists are currently working on the development of sidewalks and streets that are not only solar panels, but also nearly invulnerable to earthquakes. Some early prototypes are already being put into play with a solar bike path being opened up in Norway. I believe that this (in the famous words of Neil Armstrong) is one small step for man, and one giant leap for mankind. This can create a completely sustainable energy source for all people.

Yes solar panels are the best solution for energy I can think of. This is because if we don't have solar panels transfering the sunlight into electricity it is going to waste. I think that the government should support solar panels more.

This is a very cool concept. I can see some issues with this though. For example, creating solar panels in the first place is extremely expensive, plus there is some waste created during hte building process of panels. Also, imagine the coal and mining industry's reaction to this. This is a country where big corporations oftentime have a ton of power, and as long as politicians continue to accept huge donations from these companies who would be put out of business by the implementation of solar panel sidewalks, driveways, etc, it is unlikely any real change could happen. I do agree this is a great idea tho.

Oh that would be amazing! Harnessing the power of the sun to create a sustainable energy for generations and generations after us. We could keep using solar energy and conserve our other resources for other inventions. I recently read that if we were to keep using our resources at unsustainable rates, we could be in dire straits. I recently read a book entitled, "Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict", the world has lost all of its resources and all other countries attack each other in an attempt to get resources. This book shows a grim future of the world, as in the people of the world are fighting against each other for their last scraps of resources. But I personally agree. Having Solar Powered electronic devices would benefit society greatly, and we could avoid the world of Resource Wars.

Along with solar panels, taking advantage of other natural energy sources such as water, wind more effectively may also be able to help improve energy efficiency. Taking advantage of natural wind tunnels between buildings and high altitudes on top of them, as well as natural pressure from major sewer lines could provide us with a significant enough amounts of energy that they would be worth the investment.

Solar panels are a great way to practice using renewable energy sources, and I think that the idea of integrating them into city infrastructures is an efficient way to harness that energy.  The only problem I can see with this is the money aspect of manufacturing the panels as well as the labor that will be needed to get the project completed, especially if it's as large scale as you're suggesting.  There would need to be a lot of support from the citizens of the area as well as the government and any businesses or philanthropist societies involved in the community.

I agree. I think the cost of solar panels should be decreased so that anyone can install them on their houses and facilities. We should work to have solar panels become the main source of energy for our daily needs. It will help the earth a bunch to not use up all of its natural resources.

I think this is a great idea. Although, it has many flaws along with it. For example, what is strong enough to allow the solar panels to work while protecting it from damage all at the same time. In addition, what is stopping people from taking the solar panels off the street and selling or using them. There would need to be further advances in technology to make sure that people don't commit these crimes. Finally, we would need to find a substance that could perform that act of protecting the solar panels, while allowing them to work, since from my experience, there is nothing that can perform both of these acts at the same time.

Interesting i think that can work because solar panels are coepletey free resource. And did you know The earth gets 174 Petawatts of incoming solar radiation in the upper atmosphere? This is more than enough for the tires.
http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/v … -facts.php

That's a great idea! This could help the environment a lot. The energy output could progress the green movement and encourage more people and places to do the same. The cost of solar panels should be greatly reduced so that this could be spread throughout the country and eventually the world.

That is an amazing idea and I personally support it myself, but, if wee to replace the streets with enough solar panels to power its city, wouldn't the creation of all those solar panels create a lot of greenhouse gases itself? The amount of energy save by the solar panels will only offput the amount of greenhouse gasses taken to create it after 2 to 3 years and that varies greatly in different latitudes. The actual creation of the panels is not very eco-friendly and creates a toxic substance that, if not properly disposed of will get into water sources and release hydrochloric acid,  acidifying the water.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/sol … -you-think

I had not thought about the cost to make them but if the factory itself ran on solar or wind energy then that would greatly reduce the gases released. In fact, why don't we give a factory solar panels and have the factories sole purpose to create more solar panels?  While the materials required might release greenhouses gases, I feel that the long run benefit would be quite high.

Yea I agree that the solar panels would be a huge benefit over time. Another issue besides cost for solar panels is the location of your housing. My family couldn't get solar panels because our house doesn't get enough sun for it to be beneficial. I think if we can solve the issues of cost and location, solar panels will be very efficient in helping our planet.