Disasters often bring with it untold miseries. The situation gets worse with the unavailability of power, which hinders rescue operations. To counter the situation researchers have been working on systems which can provide power to people living in disaster-struck areas.
Japanese electronics giant Panasonic has come to provide renewable energy to such areas with its latest system called the “Life Innovation Container”. This device produces solar power and can be transported from one place to another through land, water, and even air. This mobile solar power plant has been specially developed for disaster relief and off grid use.
The LIC has been designed like a shipping container. It has expanding solar panels and a massive amount of battery storage which can provide power for three days without sunlight in the affected areas. The container system features 18 high-efficiency HIT solar modules to charge an array of 48 lead batteries. It can generate an average of 6.7 kWh in a disaster zone, which is enough to power a command and information center fully equipped with laptops, data connections, and slick flat-screen televisions.
It is not only the disaster affected areas which are being benefited but most of the developing countries of the world can also benefit from the LIC as these countries still do not have proper access to electricity. The LIC generates enough energy to power 265 25W compact fluorescent bulbs in the off grid areas. Not only this, it provides a desirable alternative to our existing sources of electricity because it does not produce emissions and depends only on the sun for energy.
The LIC, at present, may not match the high energy output of fossil fuel-based electric power plants but its significance cannot be belittled. During the recent 9.0 magnitude earth quake which triggered a Tsunami in Japan and devastated the island nation, Panasonic donated and installed an LIC to aid the rescue workers at Bay Side Arena in Minami-Sanrikucho, Miyagi Prefecture. With such contributions, Panasonic now wants to become world’s best Green Innovation Company by 2018, which will also be the 100th anniversary of its founding in the electronics industry.
Via: Digital Trends
