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New World Wind is a French company that makes something known as wind trees. These are trees that come in a few different models and produce renewable energy using 36 micro-turbines shaped like leaves (their Aeroleaf technology). There is also the option of supplementing these turbines with solar panels.
According to New World Wind, one wind tree can produce enough electricity to cover 80% of a typical French households' annual consumption needs (excluding heating) or about 100 m2 of office space. And on top of this, for every wind tree, the company goes out and plants 10 real ones.
Here's a video of one of their trees being installed outside of a factory in Taiwan:
I think these are pretty neat. And already, they have been installed all around the world. But unfortunately, there has yet to be one installed in Canada. That should change, so maybe one of you will consider installing a wind tree at one of your projects.
I've already reached out for more information so that we can consider doing the same.
Cover photo via New World Wind
Solar energy's share of total US electricity generation was only about 3.9% as of 2023. So it's not powering all that much today. However, the cost of PV modules continue to come down and installed capacity is growing very quickly. Here's an excerpt from a recent post by Brian Potter about solar energy:
By some metrics, solar PV has been deployed faster than any other energy source in history, going from 100 terawatt-hours of generation to 1,000 terawatt-hours in just 8 years, compared to 12 years for wind and nuclear, 28 for natural gas, and 32 for coal. In the US, solar PV projects are by far the largest share of planned new electrical generation capacity.
And here's a chart:
It's also interesting to look at which US states have the highest "capacity factors." The average for the entire US is 23%, which means that, on average, solar panels produce 23% of what they would if the sun were shining 24 hours a day. You might also think that the "sunshine state" would be one of the highest. But in fact, the top states are Utah and Arizona:
I'm highly interested in solar and we want to deploy it as much as we can on our projects going forward. If you're also interested in solar and want to learn more, Brian's post is an excellent place to start.
Images: Construction Physics
Ordinarily, solar panels make the most sense on the roof of a building. This is often where you can harvest the most solar energy. But sometimes it can make sense to install them vertically, like in the case of the above building in Scuol, Switzerland. I am by no means an expert on solar, but I am told that this can make sense in snowy climates (where rooftop panels are likely to get covered) and in northern locations where the lower angle of the sun means a vertical position actually catches the sun more effectively (especially during the winter months). It could also be the case that you just don't have any available roof space. Either way, you have to look at and model out the entire year when it comes to solar.
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