FollowEnvision Solar International Inc. (San Diego, California, U.S.) announced that it has completed the design, engineering and fabrication of its first Socket station, a combined solar electrical vehicle (EV) charging station and shade structure for one vehicle.
The structure is a smaller version of the company’s SolarTree canopy, and will be shipped to a site in northern California for installation in July 2011.
“With this development and our other offerings we believe we have established new archetypes for the renewable energy and building industries: “smart” solar integrated infrastructure and building systems, which have a range of sizes and outputs for every need, and include tracking, integral EV charging, energy management and shade,” states Envision Solar CEO Robert Noble.
“And of course we focus on superior aesthetics in every way. These solar energy generation offerings, as they are built, become an extremely important component of the urban fabric we live, work and play in.”
System to provide energy for a full EV charge daily
The Socket system includes EnvisionTrack tracking technology, and one vehicle charging hookup. The capacity of each Socket is 1.44kW when using 240 watt modules, and the company states that the system provides enough energy each day for a full charge for an electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid.
The first prototype Socket was announced and demonstrated at the California Center for Sustainable Energy in San Diego, California, in October 2010.
Envision notes that the announcement is concurrent with the presentation of the 2011 GM Volt for public viewing and test drives.
