Sanyo solar panel parking lots open for business

Sanyo Solar has opened a solar panel bicycle parking lot in Tokyo. Part of the Smart Energy System, which is aimed at reducing CO2 by generating and storing renewable energy. Sanyo is promoting their solar panels as a solution for housing, transport, manufacturing, and other public facilities. Sanyo recently released their new line of eneloop electric bicycles which are essentially "electriccylces" as opposed to motorcycles and only take 3.5 hours to fully recharge.

The parking facility services as a roofed storage area as well as charging dock for the bikes. The facility is a zero-emissions system through the use of extremely efficient 7.56 kilowatt solar panels to capture solar energy. Once captured the solar energy is used to recharge the eneloop bicycle lithium ion batteries and LED parking structure night lights. Also, regardless of solar activity no commercial power sources are used. As of now the 100 bikes in the parking structure are for community use and the return policy is still under discussion as to whether their will be some sort of deposit system.

I think this is a great idea and although it is a small step is still in the right direction towards a greener planet. This product and charging dock provides an effective mode of transportation with no carbon emissions as a result of repeated use. Hopefully we will see facilities like this one pop up all over the world in a positive effort to keep our planet clean.