Most people think of solar power systems as rectangular photovoltaic (PV) modules on rooftops or trackers, but these big rectangles are not a good fit for cities. Matching urban density patterns with deployments [1], we estimate a per-capita solar adoption gap of 14 Gigawatts and $50 billion in investment across the United States.
This is a challenge worth addressing. Low solar adoption in cities also a social equity failure, creating greater reliance on long-distance transmission, reduced disaster-preparedness, and higher societal costs of electricity, leading to transfers of wealth from cities to the rest of the country [2].
There is a solution—SolaBlock, the next direction in solar, offering an entirely new approach to building solar wall systems for new or existing buildings, bringing every vertical surface across the built environment into potential renewable energy production.
SolaBlock’s unique patented PV block and tile wall systems are easily integrated into complex building facades and architectural styles. Designed for façade applications, they are longer-lasting [3], more weather-resistant, theft-proof, and vandal-resistant--better suited for urban property walls, parking structures, sound-walls, retaining walls, rights-of-way, and utility buildings. With 10Wpeak per square foot and installed costs similar to brick [4], SolaBlock is “tough urban solar.”
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