Tuesday, May 10, 2011

A solar EV station grows in Brooklyn | Smartplanet

http://tiny.cc/vkn4y
... Brooklyn Bridge Park’s ... electric vehicle charging station ... runs on solar power.

... Comprised of two re-purposed shipping containers stacked together, the structure holds an array of 24 photovoltaic panels angled up from one end for southern exposure. The 5.6-kilowatt solar station powers the park’s fleet of 5 electric service vehicles and their electric Mini Cooper, the MINI E.
...
Beautiful Earth Group (BE) recently donated the station to the park ... (it’s collapsible!) ...

... David Gibbs, an engineer for BE. ... said the off-grid station’s capacity couldn’t go as far as lighting the greenspace’s many lampposts, but it could take on more EVs and fill some power needs for park maintenance. For the park’s dark nights and cloudy days, a battery bank ... from the Trojan Battery Company will store the solar power.

According to the Brooklyn-based company, the station could save Brooklyn Bridge Park $200,000 in gas money over the project’s 25 years. They say it will also cut electricity costs by tens of thousands of dollars. In another measurement of value, it will offset an estimated 530 tons of carbon dioxide emissions....

The California start-up Envision Solar has since been integrating EV charging within solar parking spaces that it has provided for a handful of companies around the country.

... A Metro-North train station in Westport, Connecticut has begun planning for a 30-kilowatt solar set-up. The idea is to charge EVs while their drivers continue with their commute on the train.... This one would be able to sell electricity back to the grid when not needed.

By Melissa Mahony
IBM Smart Planet www.SmartPlanet.comMarch 23, 2011

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