Irish energy technology company SolarPrint has entered into a partnership with Fiat to develop a “smart roof” incorporating low cost photo voltaic (solar) cells and lithium batteries that will in turn be used to power on board devices in cars. The panels will be incorporated into the roof surface of automotives, as a means of generating alternative sources of energy for vehicles by converting light to power. Under the terms of the agreement, SolarPrint will be a key part of an international consortium that has begun working with the Centro Richerche Fiat (CRF), the innovation and research arm of the Italian car manufacturer. The deal will see the development of what is described as a ‘smart roof’. The consortium working on the 3 million euro project, which has been titled the ‘SMARTOP’ initiative, also includes scientists from University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin and Imperial College London. “The SMARTOP project has been set up to create a technology that will revolutionise the auto industry and the cars that we drive, by converting everyday light into a form of power. Simply put, in the not too distant future, cars will be partially powered by PV technologies, which will have significant knock on benefits for consumers, manufacturers and society as a whole,” said Dr. Mazhar Bari, CEO of SolarPrint. “The smart sun roofs that will eventually be installed in cars offer a number of important advantages, in terms of energy that is both generated and saved, the …
Four 160 watt Kyocera solar panels in action, March 10, 2007 in southern Wisconsin. 11.5 hours of sunlight generated 4 kW’s of electricity…way enough to power the fridge, a dozen flourescent bulbs, the circulating pump for the radiant heat, the well pump and tv/radio for hours. And it powered this laptop and a video camera all day as well. The entire system was about 000. Everything here was bought at the Alternative Energy Store, at altenergystore.com. And I had to stand still for like 15 minutes to get in this video for half a second at the end!
****Since all the comments seem to be either 100% positive or 100% negative about this solar technology i would like to clear up some some misconceptions. First of all I’d imagine that takes years to set up the the precision equipment for 2 of the largest solar panel manufacturing plants in the world and be able to print solar photo cells as fast as newspaper. After the plant was completed in 2007 the first focus was on commercial uses and their first costumers where municipal utility companies. This sounds to me like a good business tactic to help you establish a successful business from the start. Next they started offering it to electrical contractors as part of a beta testing process so they can work out the kinks that arise from scaling down their panels from large commercial ones to the ones that you can use on your house. That is where were at today. After the beta testing they will start offering them to the general public. Their website even has a place to enter your email address to be notified when this technology will be available to you the home owner. Its a process and that apparently some people out there believe happens over night. This company immediately got more financial backing then needed. Google is one of the biggest investors so I believe its all legitimate. There are two benefits from the use of alternative energy. It will save you money but also it means that energy produced is done so with out creating pollution. This is good for everybody. Even …
