Five solar-powered EV charging stations manufactured by Envision Solar have been installed in Pittsburgh. According to NGT News, they will be used primarily to help keep the city’s fleet of electric vehicles charged up and ready to support the needs of the city government. “As the city transitions to a 100 percent fossil-fuel-free fleet by 2030, we’re looking at innovative and sustainable ways to power our vehicles. The new chargers run completely on sunshine and are an exciting way for us to demonstrate our commitment to reducing the city’s carbon footprint and lead by example,” says William Peduto, the mayor of Pittsburgh.
Each EV ARC solar-powered charging unit can generate enough electricity each day to power an electric car for 225 miles. They use EnvisionTrack, a proprietary solar tracking system developed by the company, to maximize power generation during the day.
But what sets the EV ARC units apart from other solar charging systems is that they are self-contained and portable. There are no trenches to dig or grid connections to install. They can be located anywhere there is a level surface. Set up takes only a few minutes and the systems can be moved to a different location if the need arises.
That also means the EV ARC units can provide emergency power in the event of a grid failure. Not only will electric vehicles owned by the city be able to continue operations to serve the needs of city residents, police and first responders can plug in to use the charging stations as emergency generators during outages.
“Pittsburgh is another high profile city that amongst all the available choices has selected our American-made, secure, solar powered EV charging stations,” says Desmond Wheatley, president and CEO of Envision. “We look forward to helping them grow their EV charging infrastructure as they scale up their electric fleet.”
Pittsburgh is in the process of implementing its third generation climate action plan to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. The EV ARC charging stations from Envision Solar will help move those plans forward.
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