Solar Power Tree
Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, launched the ‘Solar Power Tree’ in New Delhi. It has been developed by the CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-CMERI).
What is Solar Power Tree?
The Solar Power Tree harnesses solar energy for producing electricity with an innovative vertical arrangement of solar cells. It thus reduces the requirement of land as compared to conventional Solar Photovoltaic layout, on one hand, while keeping the land character intact on the other. Even the cultivable land can be utilized for solar energy harnessing along with farming at the same time. The innovation finds its viability both in rural and urban areas.
The Salient Features of the Solar Power Tree are:
• It takes only 4 square feet of land for a 5 KW Solar Power tree, whereas in a conventional layout, it requires 400 square feet of land.
• By holding the photo-voltaic panels at a higher height, on an average it gets more sunrays for one hour in a day. As a result, it is possible to harness 10-15% more power in comparison to a conventional layout on ground.
• It has a battery back-up of 2 hours on full load, hence giving light even after sunset.
• It is facilitated with water sprinkler at the top for self-cleaning of panels, that increases the efficiency of the solar panels.
• The estimated cost of the device is around Rs. 5 Lakh for a 5 KW specification.
