Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Suburban Rooftop Advertising

 Add LED circuits to solar panels.
  (+4, -2)
(+4, -2) 		  [vote for,
against]

As solar panels become ubiquitous in most suburban areas, there is an obvious opportunity to be had, using a little of the power they generate to create advertising messages that can be seen from passenger aircraft passing over cities (Few people with window seats can resist gawping at the city below, especially upon approach to the airport).

Some computer wizardry to track the aircraft across the sky so messages can be correctly oriented and homeowners can sell the advertising space on their rooftops to vendors of goods and services.

Each roof could be a pixel in a gigantic "TV screen" on the ground. A bit of programming and clever circuitry and enough LEDs and you could make it produce great moving messages.

—UnaBubba, Jan 16 2013

not excactly a new idea http://www.google.c...AQ&biw=1024&bih=622
except for the LED and suburban parts [xandram, Jan 17 2013]

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       Yes, but even with 500 channels will there be anything worth watching(+)?
—normzone, Jan 17 2013
   

       Local roofing company operates near YLW in Kelowna BC Canada Use Google maps to see their roof.
—Brian the Painter, Jan 17 2013
   

       Suburban rooftop density should enable a decent picture quality. As you get farther out the increased preponderance of greenspace will ruin the picture.
—UnaBubba, Jan 17 2013
   

       Unless, of course, you design the message or graphics to fit the mix of landscape and rooftops. In rugged terrain, for example, it might be possible to display a fairly detailed dragon logo, that writhes, twists, and even breathes fire. Sounds like a fun project!
—jurist, Jan 17 2013
   

       If you want to claim that a relative version of the concept has already been baked by using lighted office windows in high-rise buildings to display advertising messages or pictograms, that's one thing. But I don't see anything static in this idea that requires the aerial image to remain unchanged. In fact, I was trying to imply in my earlier comment, the ground image could be as sophisticated as anything currently depicted in conventional neon signage...at least in less densely populated areas. And as [UnaBubba] has already suggested, the denser the population grid, higher resolution images with more sophisticated motion capture can be achieved.
—jurist, Jan 17 2013
   

       Which is why I suggested it could be made into a giant TV screen, using enough LEDs and clever switching.
—UnaBubba, Jan 17 2013
   

       You'll get a pretty good picture from 10-15,000 feet.
—UnaBubba, Jan 17 2013
   

       Or simply add a tube around each LED, to collimate the beam in the intended direction. That would overcome the problem you keep on about, [bigsleep].
—UnaBubba, Jan 17 2013
   

       Probably not legal.   

       In my town, it is illegal to have signs advertising in residential areas.
—Kansan101, Jan 17 2013
   

       Not even "For Sale"?
—Ling, Jan 17 2013
   

       There are minor exceptions. "For Sale" and political ads are OK. Everything else is forbidden. It makes me angry- we have a recession and unemployment, and you can't put a sign in your yard advertising your daycare or your lawn service.
—Kansan101, Jan 17 2013
   

       Rooftop sign on the Italian/Swiss border: "If you can read this you're gonna crash".
—Ling, Jan 18 2013
   

       use google maps to see this ad 49.922404,-119.388653
—Brian the Painter, Jan 18 2013
   

       Are you in Kelowna, [Brian]?
—UnaBubba, Jan 18 2013
   

       yeah, that's right by my house (sort of)
—Brian the Painter, Jan 18 2013
   

       Wow! Two active 'bakers in one tinpot Canadian town! Must be something in the water.
—UnaBubba, Jan 18 2013
   

       2 fries must be the other.   

       tin pot town? dunno, maybe. There is a 100,000 people here. Mostly pretty happy about it. (you couldn't pay most of them to move out)
—Brian the Painter, Jan 18 2013
   

       Yes, [2fries].   

       100,000 is not really a big town. Seriously.
—UnaBubba, Jan 18 2013
   

       Well, it's not very big but quite nice anyway. Surely you've heard that before Ubie?
—AusCan531, Jan 18 2013
   

       That's part of what makes it the nicest town in the nicest country in the world.
—Brian the Painter, Jan 18 2013
   

       There is a Nice town in France I hear.
—AusCan531, Jan 18 2013
   

       Been there, it is nice. Good place to get drunk, but pricey too
—Brian the Painter, Jan 18 2013
   

       That's what my Marseilles.
—UnaBubba, Jan 18 2013
   


 

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