Natural Energy

Now harness the child's energy at the park & we'd solve the energy crisis.

Taiwan playground puts a spin on renewables with Solar Frisbee Roof
[BizGreen 11.19.09]

Taiwanese LCD panel maker AU Optronics (AUO) yesterday unveiled its first solar project – a German-funded, slightly concave solar panel array that stretches over a school playground. Installed at the private Taipei European School, the Solar Frisbee Roof consists of 32 PV modules of 210 watts each, with a total annual output of 6.2 terawatt hours.

AUO said the array will cut carbon dioxide emissions by 3.9 tonnes per year, although it did not reveal whether it would be grid-connected or supply power exclusively to the school.

The structure, which shelters children in the playground from the sun and rain, was partially financed by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, under the German Energy Agency's Solar Roofs Programme. The scheme is aimed at funding overseas projects that promote the use of German solar technology.