An Envision Solar Grove at Kyocera headquarters in San Diego, Calif. [Photo Credit: Envision Solar]

Envision Solar International, Inc., has begun installation of electric-vehicle (EV) charging enabled solar tracking trees at Axion Power International's facility in Western Pennsylvania. The installation is being financed through a Pennsylvania state grant to fund the deployment of the EnvisionTrak and CleanCharge Solar Trees. It is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2011.

In addition to providing Axion with clean energy and helping it meet its goal to reduce its overall carbon footprint, the installation will enable the companies to learn more about the characteristics of solar energy in the region, and how to better tie solar energy to Axion's Power Cube system.

Envision Solar's Solar Tree with EnvisionTrak is a parking lot solar array which incorporates solar tracking into the primary structure of its canopy. By tracking the movement of the sun throughout the day, a Solar Tree with EnvisionTrak can achieve an increase of 18 to 22 percent in energy output over traditional static solar arrays which generate maximum output only when the sun is at its peak, generally between noon and 3 p.m.

"This project truly represents a comprehensive demonstration of the hyper-convergence of efficient clean energy generation, large-scale local energy storage, smart-grid and building infrastructure, and plug-in hybrid - electric vehicle charging," said Bob Noble, CEO of Envision Solar.

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