UK Company Develops ‘Solar Trees’ to Charge EVs

Parking lots and retail centers within the United Kingdom could soon be adorned with solar-powered metal trees canopy reaching seven meters in height. These structures, which are being used as sources of electric vehicle charging power, were developed by SolarBotanic Trees, a British startup.

The structures are capable of harvesting the energy from the sun through nano photovoltaic leaves and storing that energy in batteries installed inside the tree trunk. The company just finished the half-size prototype of the gadget and is now planning to develop and test a full-scale prototype before commencing production for market by the year’s end.

In the United Kingdom, ZapMap reported that there had been rapid growth in the electric vehicle charging network with more than 40,000 charging stations installed at the close of April this year, an increase of 37% compared to last year. This is, however, still short of demand, according to a report by the UK government’s Committee on Climate Change. An estimated 325,000 charge stations will need to be installed before 2032 to service the country’s expanding EV fleet.

Chris Shelley, the SolarBotanic Trees CEO, notes that the country has a major shortage of charging capacity, so SolarBotanic Trees is working closely with electric vehicle providers to solve this problem. According to Shelley, several companies are currently selling carports powered by the sun. The structures extend across parking areas and resemble bus shelters covered in photovoltaic cells, but there are not many visually acceptable options. He points out that solar trees offer such a possibility.

SolarBotanic trees, which will be able to reach up to a height of approximately 4.5 meters or 15 feet in height, are more space effective so they can easily be incorporated into public settings. The trees are expected to cost from $22,000 to $30,000, which would be considerably more than a standard solar recharging system. Energy Saving Trust (EST) estimates that it will be able to generate 5kw of power as per its capacity, which is normal for an ordinary charge point. With this kind of power, a 50 kwh car battery will take approximately seven hours to be charged.

Rachel Swiatek notes that the charge point speed is more appropriate for vehicles with long periods of inactivity. In addition, there are a wide range of charging station types and outputs of power available, and each is appropriate for a particular function.  The company is also considering a small, more cost-effective model with a power output of 3.2 kwh. According to Shelley, those models will probably cost between $12,000 and $18,000.

As more charging infrastructure becomes available to the public, the adoption of EV models from a wide variety of manufacturers such as Cenntro Electric Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: CENN) is likely to accelerate because range anxiety will hardly be an issue of concern.

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