Chicago's New Solar Plug In Station
The development of the first solar plug in station electric vehicle recharging point in Douglas Park in the city of Chicago looks set to free electric vehicle owners from the shackles of limited range driving. One of the factors limiting the uptake of electric vehicles is the capacity to recharge them away from your home. The station boasts an impressive rooftop solar array and a significant battery storage capacity located under the station. The station has a ready made supply of customers in the form of the electric cars run by the City of Chicago Department of Fleet Management. The stations are being set up so they can feed excess electricity back into the mains grid. It is likely that customers will have the electricity used charged to their power bill. The company that built the station is called Carbon Day. The company intends to have thousands of such stations operating throughout the city of Chicago in the next couple of years. This is a fundamental step towards making electric vehicles the mainstream of the automotive industry. These cars are already efficient and well priced, but the lack of charging infrastructure has so far handicapped their widespread use. This charging station is the first real step towards reversing this situation. One factor to consider is the time taken to charge your vehicle, and the charging requirements of different battery types. 27 April 2009 Return from Solar Plug In Station to Solar Power News or return to the Green Planet home page for more Solar Power Facts.
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