New Solar ‘Fuel’ Station to Power German Cars

Massachusetts-based manufacturer Evergreen Solar, Inc. announced last week that its solar panels are being used to power a solar ‘fuel’ station in Frankfurt, Germany. The station has six charging ports offering free power to electric vehicle owners in a busy Frankfurt shopping district. All the power for the station — designed for small-scale electric vehicles including Velotaxis, Segways, electric bikes, and scooters — comes from Evergreen Solar panels on its rooftop.

On a bright hot day in Frankfurt the station will produce roughly 21 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, enough to power 115,000 km (approx. 71,457 miles) of travel for the average e-scooter. The project cost was about $84,000 and shared by a variety of sources, from local businesses to a local high school.

This is a very cool and high profile solar installation, but it is also another example of an American solar manufacturer performing landmark work overseas rather than right here where the sun is a much more prevalent force. As much as I support solar around the world, it would be nice to see these popping up more in, say, sunny (and smoggy) Los Angeles.

Posted on April 29th in Solar News by Dan.