Pflugerville's Renewable Energy Park to get solar 'sail' car charger
Friday, Dec. 16, 2011
By Marques G. Harper
Austin American-Statesman
The solar sail was created by Pvilion of New York and will cost about $200,000. Pvilion President Todd Dalland said that his company uses lightweight construction technologies and that its panels are less than a half-inch thick. Charging is expected to take two to four hours.
The solar sail, which was created by New York-based company Pvilion , and the rest of car-charging station are scheduled to be unveiled to the public at 4 p.m. Friday, December 30.
The charging stations are part of a $60,000 grant from the State Energy Conservation Office to install 12 charging stations in Pflugerville. Others will be installed at such spots as Stone Hill Town Center, City Hall and the public library.
The Pflugerville Community Development Corp. is developing the renewable energy park.
The solar sail will cost $200,000, and it will cover a pad of about a 5,000 square feet, said Floyd Akers, development corporation executive director. The corporation is developing the triangular-shaped industrial park, and the charging station will be in the north section of the park near Pecan Street.
"Our particular charging station will be the only one with a sail," Akers said. "We thought it would be a nice little entryway to Pflugerville."
Pvilion co-founder and President Todd Dalland said that he has worked on lightweight construction technologies for the past 30 years, and that in more recent years, has used those technologies for solar projects.
The solar sail, he said, is different from conventional rigid-frame, glass-covered solar panels. Pvilion's solar panels are 3/16-inch thick, including the steel.The electricity the sail produces will feed the charging stations, and when there are no cars using the chargers, it will go directly to the power grid. Dalland said the sail will produce up to 6 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day, and a car will be able to be charged in two to four hours at any time of the day.
Roberto Villalpando
mharper(at)statesman.com; 445-3974