A few years ago I read something about using solar power parks as way to generate energy - and possibly even use that same energy to power up the electric cars parked beneath the panels. Little did I know that there is a portuguese company specialized in solar power installations that has already turned that concept into reality.
We don't need to be a conspiracy "nut" to realize that the oil industry has definitely done all it could to delay the development of efficient electric vehicles. And truth be told, our power grid would definitely have a hard time - and most likely would fail - if it had to handle a switch to electric vehicles overnight; with millions of people arriving from work and wanting to charge their cars... at roughly the same time.
We need more intelligent power grids. And perhaps even more important, we need to decentralize power production. Doesn't it make perfect sense that the power should be generated as closest as possible to the point it is needed the most? That means that every single home and building should have as many power generation systems as it possibly can: solar power, wind power, thermal power, etc.
And that applies to car parks as well. It makes perfect sense to have a car parked right there where power can be harvested from the sun to recharge it, minimizing the impact on the power grid and avoiding costly (and inneficient) power routing or distribution.
Sure, solar power efficiency still has a long way to go before it becomes a real alternative to non-renewable/dirty power sourcesm. But, if we were able to put men on the moon in under a decade in the 60s... can you imagine just how much we could really push solar power forward in the next ten years... if the "world" really put its mind onto it?
No comments:
Post a Comment