AWARD YEAR
2015
CATEGORY
Home
GOALS
Affordable & Clean Energy
KEYWORDS
Organic Solar Panels, Mass Production, Flexible and Light
COUNTRY
Finland
DESIGNED BY
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd
WEBSITE
http://www.vttresearch.com/
Electricity Harvesting Tree
Tree that harvests solar energy from its surroundings - whether indoors or outdoors.
We are harvesting trees for energy in such great numbers, which is not sustainable or environmentally responsible. With the innovative electricity-producing “tree” we can help reduce deforestation as it can be infinitely replicated.
The leaves are organic solar cells printed using well-established and widely used mass production techniques and the tree trunk is 3D-printed and made of “wood-based biomaterials,” called biocomposites.
Each leaf has a separate power converter, making it possible to harvest energy from interior lighting or sunlight and kinetic energy from vibrations in the surrounding environment. The leaves are relatively affordable and consume very little raw material. And once the panels reach the end of their life, they can be recycled.
Currently, the prototype can only power small electronic devices, but the more solar cells there are in a tree, the more energy it can harvest. Just imagine the impact of a whole forest.