Smart cities were born from the idea of carbon neutrality. In urbanized areas, the wasteful use of energy and CO2 emissions from buildings and transport are currently a major problems. In addition, nearly 70% of the world’s population now lives in cities and this proportion is growing. For these reasons, there is a need to intervene and develop sustainable cities.
The role of smart cities in climate policy
We hear a lot about the universal EU climate policy target for Member States to move to carbon neutrality by 2050. This requires that the cities with the highest population concentrations and the most polluting cities also go green. Smart cities, therefore, use solutions and technologies that make the urban environment and services more liveable for local society. In other words, we need sustainable, environmentally aware cities to achieve this goal.
And a municipality cannot become ‘smart’ only if it is built entirely from the ground up with a sustainable approach. Alongside the creation of new neighborhoods, the renewal of older neighborhoods has also focused on environmentally conscious design.
Smart cities are the future
To avoid ever-increasing energy demand and supply problems, smart cities must now think in terms of self-sufficiency. To achieve energy security, cities and their buildings must produce their own energy. But this would be uneconomic and environmentally unsustainable if we built conventional fossil-fuel power plants. This is why renewable energy is gaining ground in sustainable cities.
For smart cities, both established and under construction, solar PV systems will play an important role, as they have a wide range of applications. In addition, the various solar technologies can be grid-connected and even operate in isolated mode. The range of off-grid solutions is already quite wide. There are many consumers of relatively low-power electrical devices (smart devices, EV charging stations, public lighting, digital street devices, etc.) that can be powered by a small solar system installed locally.
Sustainable cities paved with solar pavement
For the off-grid investments described above, solar paver is an ideal solution for harnessing solar energy. In fact, solar pavement provides smart cities with an inexhaustible energy source for sustainable development. In public spaces, PLATIO solar paver can supply green energy to a wide range of smart city devices: smart pavers, EV charging stations, digital street devices such as information walls or city lights, or even street lighting. A big advantage of paving using solar technology is that it can also generate green energy in places where vegetation or green space prevents the grid from being installed. PLATIO solar paver, for example, can thus easily replace the mains water supply for small park waterworks. Not to mention that systems with island solar pavement do not even need to be approved by the local utility. This saves a lot of administration.
The installation of PLATIO does not require any complicated structural modifications, so it is easy to install the energy-generating solar pavement on existing properties. In addition, solar paver is an aesthetic, durable building material that produces clean, green energy without emissions.
Designed to be aesthetically pleasing and durable, solar pavement generates the energy needed to power electrical equipment in public spaces, almost unnoticed underfoot. These properties make it suitable for paving sidewalks, car parks, roof terraces and squares.
PLATIO Smart City Solutions
PLATIO already has a number of successful projects where solar pavement has supported e-mobility. The diverse solution options and the national and international reference projects to date include:
- E-scooter charger in Barcelona,
- E-bike charger in Barcelona
- Smart bench: City Park, Budapest
- Citylight powered by solar PLATIO, Budapest
- Robotic lawn mower, Budapest
Solar paver is a reliable and weather-resistant green and free energy-generating building block for powering smart devices, which does not reduce the size of valuable outdoor green spaces. We believe that in the short term, solar pavers will become an integral part of the urban built environment. Power your devices anywhere with free green energy!
ABOUT PLATIO
The solar paver produced by our company is a double green building material. PLATIO is environmentally friendly not only due to the use of renewable energy but also to the 100% recycled plastic frame that holds the solar cell. In this way, the solar paver not only saves the planet from unnecessary pollutants but also keeps plastic waste in circulation.
The product works in the same way as a conventional solar panel but has extra protection as it is placed on the ground. The solar cells are protected from external influences by a heavy-duty glass plate with a non-slip surface that is scratch and impact resistant. A robust frame made of plastic waste ensures the solar paver’s load-bearing capacity and the connecting cables’ protection.
The use of materials, the special manufacturing process and the modular design result in a highly durable frame structure that will ensure trouble-free operation and easy installation of the solar panels for decades. The solar paver has a lifespan that exceeds that of conventional concrete paving, and its tensile and compressive strength is much higher than that of conventional concrete pavements.
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