25 Nov, 2008
Solar panels have been placed on top of graves in a town outside Barcelona - turning the cemetery into a supply hub for renewable energy.
Santa Coloma de Gramenet has little sun-drenched open land and consequently the graveyard was chosen for the 462 panels that service the local energy grid. The panels rest on mausoleums holding five layers of coffins, and face almost due south to soak up maximum sunshine.
The project was conceived three years ago as a way of utilizing an ideal stretch of land in a cramped town that wanted solar energy. As Santa Coloma's population of 124,000 has just four square kilometers of land there is little space to house the solar panels. Town hall and cemetery officials waged a public awareness campaign to explain the worthiness of the project and, after approval; the panels were erected at a low angle so as to be as unobtrusive as possible.
The cemetery houses the remains of about 57,000 people and the panels cover less than 5 percent of the total surface area. While costing US$1.45 million to install each year the solar panels will keep about 62 tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere.
~ Daily Planet Media ~
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