Dell and Envision Solar refashion parking lot into clean energy farm, EV recharge station (video)
By Vladislav Savov 
posted Oct 26th 2009 6:06AM
posted Oct 26th 2009 6:06AM
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And just look at all the electric vehicles lined up ready to charge. Oh wait.
whats funny is all those panels probably cost tens of thousands, and its only enough to almost power a refrigerator
@Light Speed: It's also hilarious how thousands of parking lots around the US and Canada, and millions around the world, are a waste of perfectly good space, when they could be used for at least something positive. Oh and of course lest we forget the pure comedic genius of us killing the planet we live on, it's so funny I could cry.
@2late2die
There are several deserts that would be a better location for solar farms. Fact is that it's not profitable to set them up yet.
@Joylove
It would be greater to set up solar farms in the desert, but the problem is how to get the energy from there, to where it is needed. I think this is a good idea as it can be used and stored directly with whatever is around it.
yay now my car wont be rediculous 150F on a hot sunny day
@SlaterGS
Use a long cable.
The European Union has a grant program that develops and builds these type of solar arrays on remote islands in the pacific. In Palau, the main hospital has one over their parking lot and a live feed showing all the stats. It's a great system while it works. Unfortunately, nobody knows how to maintain or fix the system when it breaks down. Regardless, tiny (poor) pacific islands have beaten Dell to the punch.
What say you HP?
This looks like a publicity stunt to regain some of the market share that they've been losing......
Turning parking lots into covered parking lots that are also solar farms wouldn't be such a bad(but probably expensive) idea.
that's what I'm thinkin - heck, just getting into a car that's been sitting in the shade is worth it! :D
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Doesn't it cost more energy to create a solar cell that the energy it can harvest in it's lifetime?
PS - some of the speeches in the video is feel good yeah? Like that lead acid battery guy... wish i was as optimistic :(
You are wrong. Very wrong. Obviously wrong.
Do you actually work for a fossil fuel company or are you really that misinformed?
Wrong, in the best conditions you can break even with Solar in 7 years if you have the proper technology investment setup to utilize the gathered energy. More likely however is to break even in 10-20 years.
It's a good PR move but like many other rational people in this world..... the money is better spent on the core products of the company *today* and when Solar is cost justified (and it WILL BE) that they should spend the money then.
The funny thing is that the energy used in the aluminum to house the solar cells uses about 2 years of solar energy where as I believe that the solar cells themselves take only about 9 months with today’s tech. The issue is moving that energy, that’s why aluminum plants are generally placed right next to hydroelectric plants where energy is cheap. The amount of energy require to make an aluminum soda can is equal to the amount of gasoline it would take to fill that can.
I like this solar parking lot idea, would keep cities cooler thus less AC on in the summer, saves energy on several levels if its implemented on a large enough scale.
I'd forgotten about that fun fact. It looks like a lot of people don't want to believe it either.
It was something like they took more energy to produce then they would create. That may or may not be true anymore.
After doing some highly accurate estimation maths...that's about 25 'average' UK homes a year?...ish?...maybe? Wonder how much was spent on them in the first place :P
Technology always starts expensive including old known technology implemented for a task of such high expectations. I just hope Moore's law holds out longer than 2015...
Thank you Non-Anonymous, I was beginning to think that everyone who comments on engadget.com is pessimistic.
"After doing some highly accurate estimation maths...that's about 25 'average' UK homes a year?" -- Do you mean enough electricity for 25 homes? That seems a little high. 131,000 kWh/year comes out to 14 kW; spread across 25 homes, that'd be only 560W each.
I've read elsewhere that the entire system is 130kW - so that means they're only expecting a 11.5%-12% capacity factor. (130kW*8760hrs/yr*.12=131,000kWH)... 12% is kind of low for Texas.
I don't know how much office space they have but at 130kW peak output, they probably won't be offsetting that much load.
Still, its a promising step in the right direction - and good to see the V2G integration too.
"should you wish to juice up your electric vehicle"
Hell, looks like trucks and SUVs out number the cars in that lot, none of which look electric. I think I even see two old Datsun Z'z in there, but hey, that is cool!
Dell is in Texas!
Imagine this coupled with wireless charging technology... mmmm...
imagine first how to ask for the bill to each car rechargin OTA
@ mex
I'm sure Big Brother would figure it out for you.
@mex: wireless charging is strictly short-range.
Interesting idea - if the efficiency of them is there it could be a two fold benefit - not only providing electricity, but the shade keeps the cars cooler and therefore they do not have to work as hard to cool down when they start up, providing additional energy savings and emission reductions.
Seems like a neat idea but it's looks more like an energy garden than a farm right now.
This is awesome. We're going to need infrastructure like this *before* we are able to take EVs mainstream. This is a great first step.
Too bad it's useless with the thunderstorms today
Have you noticed it's been raining nearly constantly since the project was completed!? If Dell had done this sooner maybe this year's drought could have been avoided!
I was just thinking the same thing.
"we can't help but suspect that the smug satisfaction of getting free energy -- both in pecuniary and ecological terms -- must be priceless"
should be reworded to:
"we can't help but suspect that people working at the company are frustrated that part of their salary is going to such a inefficient gathering of energy."
That is to say... if Dell had millions to spend on this in hopes of breaking "even" 7-21 years from now, some of that money would have gone to employees or at the very least should have been reinvested in their core products to keep shareholders happy.
Don't misunderstand...these types of investment are interesting and the geek in me loves it... but If I had the choice between a new office chair for $500 or $300 in my pocket and $200 reinvested in my companies core products...well you get the point.
I would guess that there are strong incentives in place to ensure that this is not a "waste" of money. Whether it's tax write-offs or grants, etc. they likely did not spend near as much out of pocket as you'd suspect.
Not to mention that every one of these silly, inefficient messes someone creates help to move us towards a working, sensible model in the future.
The first Electric cars are an example. Without silly contraptions like the Honda Insight we might not have the Hybrids that are so popular today.
I work in the building overlooking said lot. While it was a pain to have our parking lot cut in half for a month during installation I think overall we're happy Dell is doing SOMETHING, not everyone can say that about their company. And @3DChris - It's Texas over half the cars on the road are trucks and SUVs, but we do have hybrids and even a couple of SmartCars in the lot every once in awhile.
Thanks for speaking up. I was hoping someone who worked there would pitch in their thoughts.
AWESOME! I love seeing stuff like this being done.
That's got to be one of the best ideas ive seen, when solar panels become more efficient and produce more energy I can see this really taking off
So they're finally working? I drive by the Dell HQ everyday (it's less than a mile from my house), and these solar panels started popping up in the parking lot a while ago.
Pretty cool, but there aren't too many electric cars that'll be taking advantage of the charging station anytime soon.
this is like, 5 minutes from my old house... weird.
I know that McBride Electric in Round Rock, TX was the General Contractor on this project and was the one "tapped" by Dell to do this project. I did a little research and have seen that they [McBride] have done some pretty large installations around the US. One at Universitu of Colorado/Pueblo that was over a megawatt. Way to go McBride Electric. McBride is offering a discount on a home solar install;ation for the Dell employees as well. Way to step up guys !! Who is Envision in this game?
I have been told that the payback is approximately 7 to 7 3/4 years if you add in the $245k they get from the electric company, tax credits and all. Not a bad deal. I got to speak with the project manager from McBride [Mike]and received quite a bit of "411" on the system and all. I expect that this is just the first step with Dell as they wanted this to be a "billboard" so-to-speak as roof top units would not be seen by the public. As a Dell employee, I LOVE IT. I think it a wise investment