[CEATEC 2010] The Nissan Solar Tree is a concept that is part of the larger 2030 zero-emission city that Nissan and many major industrial companies in Japan are participating to. The idea is to create the next-generation city design based on the new green aspiration, and possibly energetic realities of 2030. This tree is about 12 meters (about 12 yards) with 3 translucent solar panels that chase the sun during the course of the day. It could be deployed locally within the city, or in a “forest” of 1000 such units along highways or other more remote areas. This would be enough to provide energy to 7000 homes on a sunny day. Nissan says that it aims for a 30% efficiency – which is very high by today’s standards. Note that efficiency progress is typically very slow and most companies have focused on lowering costs instead. We won’t see this tree on the streets of Tokyo anytime soon, but we sure like the idea of having solar panels that are not so ugly.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkyTnxt2AaM]
