Envision Solar International has launched a “solar tree” designed to charge the Chevy Volt. The company, which specialises in sustainable infrastructure, has unveiled CleanCharge, a solar-powered electric vehicle charging station connected to a large solar panel designed to shade the electric vehicle and charge its battery at the same time.
The company has integrated CleanCharge into the large solar tree structure, which incorporates a solar panel mounted onto a trunk. The unit, designed to shade a car, is about the same size as an average corporate parking space. When the car is parked, the solar module, provided by Mage Solar, harvests energy from sunlight while keeping the vehicle cool.
Envision, which has produced custom solar trees for corporate clients in the past, unveiled the charging station at the General Motors “Volt Unplugged” tour at the California Centre for Sustainable Energy in San Diego yesterday. General Motors has chosen the vehicle charging system for installation at its Warren Technical Centre and Milford Proving Ground sites.
Each of the shaped structures holds a solar array generating 1.8kW of power. It can fully charge a Chevy Volt during a six-hour day. The trunk of the solar tree includes a motor that gently moves the array, enabling it to follow the sun and boost power production by 25 per cent.
Reports suggest that about 80 per cent of the energy in an electric vehicle can go towards cooling the battery.
