UC San Diego Installs Unique Solar Shade-Trees
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA 
on 09.15.08
Image source: Envision Solar
UC San Diego is using one of its free gifts - some of the best solar exposure in the country - to further power and shade the campus. Several solar trees (solar panels installed on a vertical racking system that supports the "canopy" solar array) will be installed over two parking garages on campus as part of a "forestation" program on campus. The "trees" will also shade vehicles and provide an energy source for campus electric cars.
The "Solar Tree" idea is a new racking system that is "native" to San Diego and was developed by Envision CEO Robert Noble. The Solar Tree design was first used at the Solar Grove in Kearny Mesa and now at UCSD. The concept uses biomimicry by developing a solar racking system that also provides additional benefits to the surrounding area. The solar tree system allows for easy installation of an outlet for electric vehicle charging. Other, traditional, pole-mounted systems are similar, but not really geared to shade the area underneath them.
The Solar Trees will each generate 17,000 hours of solar electricity each year, enough to power four homes. Plus provide shade and cooling benefits to student vehicles, as well as, begin infrastructure for electric vehicle charging. The Kyocera panels are being installed by Envision Solar, Inc.
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This idea could be adopted by many infrastructures, especially home car ports, gas stations and anything else where shade is desired. Id love to power my laptop out on the terrace via a solar canopy while i get some work done.
Kudos to UCSD. Id like to see more of this on college campuses across the country. Esp. UW-Madison
"Solar Trees will each generate 17 kWh of solar electricity each year, enough to power four homes"
Please don't undermine your pieces and your message with ropey/absent science/engineering/maths.
You are probably at least a factor of 1000x out, but it's difficult to tell.
Rgds
Damon
"The Solar Trees will each generate 17 kWh of solar electricity each year, enough to power four homes."
This is an error. As is, it makes no sense. What is it supposed to say?
It might be 17 kWh/day, which likely still wouldn't be enough to power 4 homes unless they are very efficient. It could be 17 kW peak output capacity, which would mean these trees are significantly larger than they appear in the picture.
yes I agree I would like some clarification on the amount of power that will be produced. A common solar house will generate 3kw per. so how many trees were installed?
Yea there are two errors. The original article says 17,000 hours of energy, but energy is not measured in hours. This article translated that into 17kWh which is clearly wrong.
Oh my God! There's shade under PV panels?!
The concept is great. My gut reaction though is that these are incredibly ugly compared to the real trees on college campuses I'm fond of. I guess they do look better than a parking garage without them. But I hope that we move to a better transportation system than the one that garage supports before those panels wear out.
As Anthony says, 17 kWh/year is a mistake. If a home used a quarter of that, 4.25 kWh, in a year, that would be about a 5 cent monthly electric bill. You could run a compact fluorescent for about an hour a day for that--which is pretty amazing actually--that's a lot of benefit for 5 cents. There are a lot of people in the world for whom that would be a step up. But I don't think the article meant "enough to provide minimal lighting for a short time for four primitive huts with no appliances."
The EIA websites states:
That's 10,654 kWh per house per year on average, and that was before the widespread use of plasma TVs and high heating oil which has forced people to use more electricity for heating. If it's 17kWh per day, that's only 6205 kWh per year, or a little over half what one average house would use.
In any case, I think it's a good idea and applaud it.
Here's what the press release actually says:
"Each Solar Tree™ at UCSD will generate more than 17,000 hours of clean energy per year, which is enough to power more than four single-family homes. Each Solar Tree™ avoids 13.2 metric tons of carbon emissions. "
I wonder why they can't use traditional units of energy.
Also not that the term "Solar Tree" is trademarked.
These suckers are ugly but if the real purpose is to power electric vehicles, I'm all for it. But let's don't take the tree analogy too far.
Kudos to them. CSUN (Cal State University Northridge) also did something similar a few years back (the news release is dated Feb. 26, 2003 - http://www.calstate.edu/newsline/Archive/02-03/030226-Nor.shtml). They installed solar panels in a "carport-style" configuration - 3,024 panels total, carrying a 25-year warranty - to provide shade for vehicles in two open parking lots. The total install cost $1.8 million US, but local utility companies gave rebates totaling $1.6 million. In addition, the college now saves at least $50K annually, while generating clean, renewable energy. Here's a link to the only pictures I could find - http://www.yaei.com/project_CSUN_Solarpowergeneration.htm.
I think that any way we can harness the earth's energy is a good idea. Why not use the "tools" available to us? This is a great idea and I think there should be more like it out there.
@ Damon then everyone ells
The article said 17,000 hours per year. That means the time the panels will be exposed and generating. The kwh production depends on the size of the array.
The gas station I fill at has a solar array, and you can track the production online at
http://www.sqbiofuels.com/retail3_sitedesign.htm
Even in Oregon they average about 150 kwh per day in the summer.
think that any way we can harness the earth's energy is a good idea. Why not use the "tools" available to us? This is a great idea and I think there should be more like it out there.
The article said 17,000 hours per year. That means the time the panels will be exposed and generating. The kwh production depends on the size of the array.
The gas station I fill at has a solar array, and you can track the production online at
http://www.sqbiofuels.com/retail3_sitedesign.htm
Even in Oregon they average about 150 kwh per day in the summer.
Thanks you.