The AT&T telecom company has installed 25 Street Solar Charge stations in parks throughout the five boroughs of New York. The initial run marks a trial for a potential broader deployment. And how to drive trucks along the road without diesel or petrol? One solution is to go under the road as seen in a large Swedish research project automaker Volvo is participating in. Working with Alstom, Volvo has a 400-meter long track at its testing facility in Hällered outside Gothenburg. Read More

AT&T solar stations offer quick recharge in New York

The telecom company has installed 25 Street Charge stations in parks throughout the five boroughs of New York. The initial run marks a trial for a potential broader deployment.

by Roger Cheng in Cnet (18 June 2013):

AT&T is deploying solar-powered charging stations to help keep smartphones and other mobile gadgets juiced up in parks throughout New York.

The 25 stations, which each feature a microUSB,  iPhone 4, and  iPhone 5 plugs, as well as USB ports for other devices, are being set up in various parks this summer and offer a free recharge. They can be found this week in Riverside Park on the west side of Manhattan, in Union Square, and in Brooklyn Bridge Park, with more locations to come this summer.

The Street Charge project, which is still in its trial phase, comes out of AT&T’s work during the recovery from Superstorm Sandy. The company had set up mobile charging stations in the blacked-out areas of New York, which inspired the idea of creating charging stations for everyday uses.

“We realized charging was the missing ingredient during the day,” said Neil Giacobbi, who helps with gifts, sponsorships, and programs in the New York region for AT&T.

AT&T worked with Brooklyn-based Pensa to design the 10-foot-tall steel structure, a tower that branches out into three arms at the top, which hold the solar panels. The solar power technology was supplied by Goal Zero.

The charging stations are powered by the solar panels, and are standalone structures without an external power source or wires. In working with New York City, Giacobbi said it was important that the company didn’t have to install any new wires or infrastructure to power the unit.

Packed to the gills with batteries, one station is designed to provide three to four days of continuous charging if holding a full charge. While the station can still absorb ultraviolet rays during cloudy or even rainy days, it can get fully charged up after four hours in direct sunlight. The stations charge at the same speed as normal wall outlets, although AT&T is looking at quick-charging technology down the line.

AT&T is paying for the 25 stations, and the city bears no cost, Giacobbi said, adding that the city is fully supporting this program.

Because there are no external wires and construction, the towers can be disassembled and then reassembled in another location. Giacobbi said that the stations will stay in their current spots for the next month before being moved around. The company has staff monitoring the usage and will track where the optimal locations will be for each station.

So what’s in it for AT&T? Giacobbi said the stations are here to keep phones on and running (even if they are for another carrier).

“If I don’t have a charge, I can’t use the network,” he said.

The trials will run through the end of the year, after which AT&T will consider a longer-term plan. The company is considering expanding the number of stations, as well as potentially bring them to other cities.

“There are a lot of eyes on this project to see how it works,” Giacobbi said.

Source: www.news.cnet.com

From EarthTechling’s Nino Marchetti, Huffington Post (29 June 2013):

One solution often seen with electric buses, and sometimes with electric trucks, is to power them via attachment to overhead power lines. This is both unsightly and can cause delays in scheduling should the vehicle’s power connector fall off the line. One solution to these issues is to go under the road as seen in in a large Swedish research project automaker Volvo is participating in.

The project, said Volvo, entails two power lines built into the surface of a road along the entire length of the road. A current collector in contact with the power lines and is located on the bottom of the electric vehicle, providing constant energy to move the truck or bus forward much like overhead power lines would. Lines would be built in sections, and only one section would be live as the vehicle passes overhead. It is envisioned as an ideal solution for long distance vehicles.

Besides the previously mentioned advantages, another big one would be no need for large batteries. By removing these batteries from the vehicle’s footprint, more room could be made available for more commercial loads or passengers.

As exciting as this project sounds, it is still in the early stages of development. Working with Alstom, Volvo just last year built a 400-meter long track at its testing facility in Hällered outside Gothenburg. The company has been testing the system since last autumn.

“We are currently testing how to connect the electricity from the road to the truck,” said Richard Sebestyen, project manager at Volvo Group Trucks Technology, in a statement. “The electricity flows into a water-cooled heating element, with similar power requirement as an electricity-driven truck.”

Next steps include the continued technical development of the current collector, electric motor and the control systems required. It also involves road construction, road maintenance, electricity supply along the roads and various payment models, etc. To reach these milestones, Volvo is working with the Swedish Energy Agency, as well as the Swedish Transport Administration, Vattenfall, several universities, vehicle manufacturers and suppliers.

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com