SunMobility
Photo: A-lab. Solar panel installation in Frogner Park
Sun mobility
Solar panel charging installation as a public amenity
With the solar panel project SunMobility, Oslo became the first capital in Europe to offer e-bikes charged with solar power. The solar panel pavilions SunMobility Cube and SunTree deliver green power to people on the move. The project arises from new ways of thinking about urban mobility, and is an example of a greener, emission-free and sharing-based mobility.
TYPE OF PROJECT: Solar power pavilions
LOCATION: Oslo (Oslo S, Akerbrygge og Frognerparken)
CLIENT: Møller Solenergi
COLLABORATORS: Timber, Multiconsult, DIFK and the City of Oslo
STATUS FOR PROJECT: Prototypes completed in July 2017
Initially, Møller approached A-lab with an aim of making a solar powered carport for e-cars. However, as the architects, engineers, solar panel experts and carpenters sat down together, ideas began to flourish, and all of a sudden, the scope of possibility was widened. Thanks to a visionary client, the project centered around mobile units that could offer solar panel charging of everything from e-bikes to phones and electic grills instead. Hence, the project developed from a private service to a public contribution to both green mobility and green power. The City of Oslo was a partner in this project, although not financially.
Photo: A-lab
SunTree
Daily energy production:
12 kWh charging capacity per day (July, average)
18 kWh charging capacity per day (July, cloud free)
Power source: the sun
SunCube
Daily energy production:
12 kWh charging capacity per day (July, average)
18 kWh charging capacity per day (July, cloud free)
Power source: the sun
Power and environmental impact
Photo: A-lab
The SunMobility project involves a series of prototypes of SunCube and SunTree that were placed on different locations around Oslo during the summer of 2017: on Jernbanetorget, Aker brygge and in Frognerparken. Each charging station has four outlets and eight charging cables suited for different mobile units. All of the electricity is produced by the solar panels on top of the installations.
Photo: A-lab
We design our best projects when we collaborate with clients and partners who have the same goals and value as we do; it gives the projects a sense of direction. Sustainable mobility and social hubs are goals that we try to reach in our projects, and Møller has social responsibility and the environment high up on their agenda.
Julie Sjøwall Oftedal, partner and head of strategy and development in A-lab
Photo: A-lab
Photo: A-lab
If we are going to make the green shift, we need collaborations between private businesses and the city. That is why this project was a fun effort.
Marianne Borgen, mayor of Oslo
SunTree was designed as an urban social hub where you can charge everything from mobile phones to computers, to electric grills, guitar amplifiers or food trucks. The solar panels make up the crown of the tree, while a circular bench forms a ring around the trunk, inviting you to take a break while your phone is charging. The solar panels move with the sun, giving them the added effect of casting shadows over the bench as the sun travels across the sky.
Illustration: A-lab
Since a bike stand does not have enough surface area to put e-bike charging solar panels on it, a pavilion with a solar panel roof was designed. The pavilion concept has been given a modern design, where the twisted and angled walls in an otherwise cubistic shape constitute the decorative element.
Illustration: A-lab
Photo: A-lab
«We thought about what we could do to make a more modern city and modern mobility. E-bikes are the right move for cities. But we also wanted to do something that no one had done before us, and that was solar panels»
Paul Hegna , head of communications of the Møller Group
Photo: Møller
Photo: A-lab
The Møller Group has great visions of influencing the development of green mobility for the future. For instance, their aim is to stop selling fossil-fueled vehicles by 2025. The idea of replacing e-bike charging with solar panel charging came from the client itself. And with Mobility Cube, they took a step further, making the facility public by renting out solar panel powered e-bikes.
The Møller Group has great visions of influencing the development of green mobility for the future. For instance, their aim is to stop selling fossil-fueled vehicles by 2025. The idea of replacing e-bike charging with solar panel charging came from the client itself. And with Mobility Cube, they took a step further, making the facility public by renting out solar panel powered e-bikes.
The pavilion emerges as a social hub where you can sit sheltered from the weather and the wind. Replacing dense walls with transparent glass panes renders the construction transparent, and the activities on the inside become part of the street life on the outside.
Photo: A-lab
The different elements of this concept may be interconnected as shown here, where a charging station for e-bikes is connected to a SunTree that is harvesting solar power from the crown of the tree.
Photo: A-lab
The rechargeable tree can be moved around the city and meet different needs whether it is placed on a city square or in a park where people are barbecuing.
Photo: A-lab