We’ve written about “solar flowers.” There are also “solar trees.” The University of California – San Diego (UCSD) has installed Solar Trees™ on the roofs of two of its parking garages to harness the sun’s energy.
The Solar Trees™ not only capture sunlight to supplement electricity needs on the campus, but also provide shade for the cars that park underneath. The tree design includes an option to add plug-in outlets for electric vehicles to accommodate future demand for electric vehicle plug-in access.
UCSD has placed 15 Solar Trees™ on top the Gilman Parking Structure and 28 Solar Trees™ atop its Hopkins garage – enough for a bona fide Solar Grove.™
The installation is part of UC San Diego’s efforts to reduce the amount of electricity it purchases from the grid and instead generate its own power from solar, wind, and fuel cells. The University expects each tree to generate more that 17,000 hours of electricity annually and avoid “13.2 metric tons of carbon emissions.”
According the US Energy Information Administration, in 2006 the residential monthly average for electricity consumption equaled 960-kilowatt hours. In theory, each Solar Tree™ captures ample electric supply to power an average single-family home.
Of course, universities use way more energy than a residence. The UC San Diego’s 1,200-acre campus’s laboratories alone often consume 38-40 megawatts. The University’s new Solar Grove™ is part of a larger effort to meet the school’s Green Initiative. UCSD has established a goal to generate 2 megawatts from solar PV arrays by the end of 2009. Its latest installation puts UCSD well on its way to meeting its objective.
