Solar Power Shade Panels

What if solar power generating shade panels could keep your neighborhood cool?

Floating photosynthetic shade chargers help generate power while keeping the city cool. Woven with flexible solar panels, they harvest energy, decrease heat stress on materials, structures, pipes and people on the ground, and keep ambient air levels livable...

Cities in hot climates have been using shade cloth to stay cool in hot weather for millennia. Some places are starting to synthesize shade clothes with solar panels. As climate change at increasingly rapid rates, it could be more and more difficult for urban tree canopies to stay alive. Solar powered shade cloths could serve as part of wider ranging heat mitigation strategies as city forests change, providing renewable power in the process.

Research informing this future

• Cities in hot climates have been using shade cloth to stay cool in hot weather for millennia. Some places are starting to synthesize shade clothes with solar panels. As climate change at increasingly rapid rates, it could be more and more difficult for urban tree canopies to stay alive. Solar powered shade cloths could serve as part of wider ranging heat mitigation strategies as city forests change, providing renewable power in the process.

Action items to address rising heat waves

• Contact your public utilities commission on creating and supporting local cooling centers.

• Explore options for onsite power generation and local solar and microgrid projects to ensure you have power for AC or fans when heat waves strike.

Would you want these kinds of shade panels in your neighborhood? Why? Why not?