As wonderful as conventional solar panels are for silently producing abundant renewable electricity, let’s face it – they’re not very pretty.
Those who love traditional buildings and who recognise the need to live ‘sustainably’ in the 21st century notice a ‘clash’ every time those two ideas come together. In an historic village, for example, where hand-crafted vernacular buildings lean toward each other with age, our senses are outraged by the sight of a neon sign, satellite aerial, or a Solar Panel. …And in any case, in these areas residents are often prohibited from mounting Solar Panels on their Olde-Worlde roofs.
If you can’t mount PV panels on your roof, thoughts naturally turn to installing them on the ground. Yet even there, if you’re a keen gardener, or live amid unspoiled countryside – you probably won’t!
Enter the SmartFlower:
The multi-award winning SmartFlower is a photovoltaic array so pretty that people who own them give them names.
The SmartFlower is a self-contained electricity generation unit which – like a Daisy – opens up in the morning and folds itself away at night – cleaning its ‘petals’ as it does so. To maximise the energy it can harvest the SmartFlower uses a two-axis motor which allows the PV panels to track the sun. The result is a photovoltaic array as much as 40% more efficient than static panels of the same potential. And it looks so good that it becomes a feature of the garden! To prove the point, the latest of over 1000 installations to-date of the SmartFlower is at Lavender Pond Farm in Connecticut USA – a picturesque 25 acre Lavender farm-business which is open to the public.
And here’s another advantage: Because there’s no drilling of holes through the roof, running cables through walls, or installing boxes of electronic wizardry inside precious indoor cupboard space, the SmartFlower can be up-and-running within an hour of delivery, requiring only a modest foundation on which to stand – which could be a concrete pad, or four earth-screws driven into the ground. That’s it! …everything needed to provide an average household with virtually all the electricity it requires during the unit’s 25 year warrantied service life is contained in the ‘box’.
So what’s in the box?
The SmartFlower POP is available as an electricity grid-connected unit provided with:
A Victron MultiPlus inverter/charger offering 3kVA continuous power, and capable of delivering 6kW Peak Power.
A Victron BlueSolar Charge Controller handles incoming panel voltage of up to 150 volts, a charge current of 70A 0r 85A. These units, of course, feature the very latest Ultra-fast Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT).
The SmartFlower POP+ has been designed as an off-grid/hybrid system and is further provided with Lithium battery power storage of either 2.3kWh or 4.6kWh, and is available with the 5kVA version of the MultiPlus inverter.
Being modular, virtually all the decision-making has been done for the customer who isn’t burdened with having to learn about, and select, combinations of electrical units to supply their household needs. The choices are simply between on-grid and off-grid models …and for the off-grid version, how much battery storage will suit their household need; and how much electricity the household might demand at any one time.
Outside the domestic market, Businesses will be interested to hear that the SmartFlower POP-e has been designed to work specifically as a high-performance charging station for electric cars and bikes.
The POP-e is capable of delivering up to 22kW of charging power which – together with the striking design and colour range of these units – makes it the ultimate statement for any company wishing to establish its ‘green’ credentials.
Because the SmartFlower charging units occupy an area equivalent to a single car-parking space – they can be permanently established in existing locations such customer-parking areas.
Here’s a promotional video which imagines the POP-e in use:
It’s reassuring to know that – in keeping with all the world’s best innovations – SmartFlower’s founder, Alexander Swatek, working with his two partners over a glass of wine, drew the design concept on the back of a serviette! Their ambition was to make technology beautiful; to combine all necessary components into one stylish package, thereby making it an attractive proposition for house-proud consumers.
The units are built in Austria from quality materials to ensure a long hassle-free product life. Customer service is provided by working with an expanding network of dealerships all over the world to ensure that both their product – and plenty of good advice – are always close to hand.
In closing, as a way to combat stress, may I suggest we all take a minute to watch the SmartFlower unfurl …accompanied by some stirring music?
