Solar UFOs: They’re Real and Hovering Over Japan

When it comes to robots and no-holds-barred gadgetry, nobody matches Japan in creativity. And now they’ve created solar UFOs; not to ward off any prehistoric, city-crunching beasts, but in a rather practical move to clean city water canals.

These are, quite literally, solar-powered flying saucers… well, floating saucers to be exact. But they really do call them Solar UFOs, and they’re the coolest inventions ever. They were inaugurated at the recent Aqua Metropolis festival in Osaka and, weighing about 3.4 tons each, they’re 5 feet in height and 16 feet across. The Solar UFOs purify water in Osaka’s canals.

The machines can clean as much as 9,000 liters of water in a single day, and they do it by pumping fresh oxygen into the water, which sprays from the top of the UFO like a fountain. They run off solar energy during the day and then switch to a 1.3 kilowatt solar battery by night. The UFOs were built by NTT Facilities, a construction and solar company out of Tokyo.

One of the two Solar UFOs currently in operation are in Dotonbori canal in downtown Osaka, while the other is busy cleaning the moat around Osaka Castle. The canal-based UFO will remain there until October, while the Castle-bound cleaner will work through next Spring. NTT Facilities also plans to use the UFOs in the Tokyo area in the near future.

Source: Current.com

Posted on September 8th in Solar Products by Dan.