Foldable Solar Roof For Parking Lots

A foldable solar roof for parking lots is something new in solar technologies.

Today, solar energy is used all over the world. There are many improvements in already existing solar technologies. Entirely new technologies and innovative solar devices are emerging. More and more people have solar-powered homes. Back in 1956, the cost of solar used to cost around $300 per watt. Now, in the US, you can get rooftop solar for $1.49/watt from Tesla and a similar price from others.

According to the latest news, a company in Switzerland and its partner, Kronberg and St. Gallish-Appenzellische Kraftwerke (SAK), have created something unique in the field of the solar technologies - a foldable solar roof, that comes out only when the sun is shining. It is not a typical roof designed for residential use. This solar roof is meant for parking lots and generates power for on-site consumption, including for electric vehicles charging (there are two charging stations). It also provides shadow to keep vehicles cooled when the weather is hot.
         

                            Image credit: cleantechnica.com

The companies started this project back in the spring of 2020 when they built the foldable photovoltaic system on the Kronbergbahn’s parking lot. When the sun rises, the solar roof unfolds and soaks up the rays to generate solar power, then when it’s cloudy, raining, or during night time, it folds up. The foldable photovoltaic roof is named Horizon, its size is 43,056 ft2 (4,000 square meters), has a 420 kW generation capacity, and it covers the parking lot for 152 cars. The cost of the entire project is about 1.5 million Swiss francs.   

The foldable solar roof  was manufactured at DHP Technology headquarters in Zizers. It uses mono and polycrystalline solar cells and glass-free laminate tech. “The folding sunroof is lightweight because we use glass-free solar module technology,” said the DHP representative. “The installation is simple and is based on the plug-and-play approach.”

The parking lot has 1,320 solar panels and produces 350,000 kWh per year. Right now, the companies are looking for investors who are interested in sponsoring a system. There are 660 panels available and expected to be licensed soon to interested clients. The license agreement is for 15 years. 330 panels are already used by SAK and Kronbergbahn AG.

Investors will receive five different experience vouchers during their 15-year right of use - the vouchers vary depending on the investment. If you are interested in investing in a panel, you have two options. You can invest in a whole panel or by the quarter:

1. Entire Panel CHF 800 ($852)
2. Quarter Panel CHF 200 ($213)

The sources of this news are cleantechnica.com (you can see a video on their website), pv-magazine.com, and interestingengineering.com. 

Solar-Powered Charging Stations for Mobile Phones, Cameras, and Electric Vehicles

Image credit: www.soldesignlab.com

Solar-powered charging stations are innovative solar-powered designs that can be used in public places when no electricity supply is available. You can see them alongside the streets, in the squares, and even as “umbrellas” attached to benches in public parks. On the market, there are also smart solar benches and they are an excellent addition to existing urban furniture.

Solar-powered charging stations are great to allow people to charge their small devices such as mobile phones, laptops, or cameras outdoors. Some of the solar-powered charging stations can power electric bikes, scooters, and cars, so recharging your car’s batteries is often cheaper at one of these stations. Solar-powered charging stations can provide also lighting, WI-Fi, give insight about the environment, and display information on a digital screen.

All solar-powered stations work similarly, although they might differ in terms of size, capacity, and the type of charging that is available. Each solar-powered station consists of an inflexible or flexible solar panel (or panels), battery system, charge controller, and inverter.

The benefits of solar-powered charging stations are numerous. First of all, they produce electricity without any emissions, making them one of the most environmentally-friendly technologies. Unlike coal, nuclear or gas-powered plants, solar energy does not produce emissions, nor toxic byproducts. And it is a renewable source of energy.

The implementation of solar technology in public places gives us free or cheap energy. Especially, for those living far from the electrical grid, solar charging stations for mobile phones can be the only way to stay connected. It is no surprise that in the developing countries more and more solar-powered charging stations are appearing. In countries where electricity is not accessible to all, public solar-powered charging stations for mobile phones are very popular. (Read this article)

Last but not least, with the solar-powered charging stations, we become energy independent and can spend more time outdoors. When we know that we can charge our mobile phones and other electric devices outside, in the streets and in the parks, it gives us more freedom and flexibility to spend time outdoors and in nature.

Sources: Inhabitat & Magesolar

Solar-Powered Electric BlueCar soon in Europe

Another exciting news concerning electric vehicles coming this time from Europe. Italian car designer Pininfarina and French battery manufacturer Bolloré have officially announced that they will release in 2010 a fully-electric, partially solar-powered car in Europe, named BlueCar. Previously unveiled at last years Geneva Show, the BlueCar is a fully-electric car that comes equipped with solar panels on the rooftop. The solar panels on the vehicle’s roof provides some power to the vehicle’s systems.

The four-seat, five-door hatchback vehicle is 3.65 meters long, 1.72 meters wide and 1.6 meters high. The 50kW electric motor and the LMP (Lithium Metal Polymer) batteries + a device for energy storage (supercapacitor) give the BlueCar a range of 250 km (155 miles) per charge. With modest demands the battery is able to run the car at a top speed of 80kph and provides enough thrust to enable the car reach 60kph in less than 6.5 seconds. If need be, the batteries can be fast-charged for five minutes, giving the car enough power to run 25km.

The two companies claim that to recharge the BlueCar, you should simply plug it into a traditional power socket at home or a public power outlet. It takes about six hours to recharge the car’s battery from a standard power socket, and only two hours on the future public fast-charging outlets.

The car will go into production in Italy at Pininfarina starting in 2010. Production on an industrial scale will take place between 2011 and 2017, with 60,000 of the vehicles expected to be produced by 2015.

Sources: Inhabitat » Solar Powered Blue Car Hitting the Streets in 2010, Eco Cars: Sun harvesting electric Bluecar gets real in France and Italy Bluecar by Pininfarina

Update 2020: Hanergy partners with Bollore Group to build solar electric vehicles

Hanergy Thin-film Power Group

Read also the post: 5 Partially Solar-Powered Cars You Can Buy | Solar Energy - Green Lifestyle for You

Solar-Powered Electrical Plug-in Station Unveiled in Chicago

Last month Carbon Day Automotive announced the unveiling of the first solar-powered electric vehicle charging station in Chicago. Located and operational at the City of Chicago Department of Fleet Maintenance, it will be used on a daily basis to fuel the city’s electric vehicles with clean and renewable power from the sun.

Carbon Day Automotive’s Solar Plug-In Station(TM), built by Carbon Day Construction, was designed by the world renowned firm of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture. Wanxiang America Corporation manufactured the solar panels that form a tree-like canopy built by Residential Steel.

Carbon Day Automotive envisions thousands of charging stations in key locations throughout Chicago and tens of thousands nationally by the year 2011. The construction of this infrastructure is one more step to reducing America's dependence on foreign oil.

“Without these stations, it would be like driving around in traditional cars without the availability of gas stations,” said Scott Emalfarb, CEO of Carbon Day. “The day of true plug-in electric vehicles will be here sooner than most people realize and the world needs to be ready to accommodate them. Carbon Day will build them and they will come.”

Carbon Day Automotive is a division of Carbon Day, an energy solutions organization dedicated to increasing environmental awareness. For more information you can visit the Carbon Day website, www.carbonday.com.

Sources: Gas2.org & Jetson Green