JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Special Issue Smart Cities - November 2019 - 46

APPLICATION urban structure

Solar Tree: making the city more attractive
The Solar Tree is an innovative urban structure, an
off-grid stationary power generator that provides
shadow, clean energy, night lighting, connectivity
and can be used for IoT commerce and Mobile Out of
Home Advertising (MOOH).

he Solar Tree uses Arkema's
Elium recyclable resin,
which offers excellent
structural characteristics and
has a lower environmental impact. This resin is styrene-free,
recyclable, thermoformable and
enables the manufacture of lighter parts, making the tree easier
to process, store and transport,
while offering a high modulus,
toughness and stiffness.

profiles, which are also fixed
by adhesives or by induction
at the base of the tree bench,
formed by two parts (base and
seat cover). The new technology made it possible to innovate and to achieve a lightweight composite structure.
The organic photovoltaic film
(OPV) weighs 200g per m², is
extremely light and can directly adhere to the leaves.

Manufacturing processes
The Solar Tree was developed
using two types of manufacturing processes:

Modular design
In this project, the advantage
of using composite materials
was shape freedom. The Solar
Tree has a bold, modular design,
where a single leaf makes it possible to create different configurations. It is composed of six
leaves, organized in two different heights. Sold separately or
together, the client will be able
to buy one or more leaves and
even organize a forest and sell
visual advertising space on the
leaves.

-- Pultrusion: The stem is manufactured with pultruded profiles for a lightweight, bold
design with high mechanical resistance to support the
leaves, and precision of the
rails where the LED strips are
fitted.
-- Infusion moulding: The tree's
base and seat are made by infusion using Elium resin. Two
moulds, one on each side of
the leaf, are bonded by adhesives or by induction and secured to the stem's pultruded
profiles. The stems are then
connected to the pultruded

Moreover, the use of composite
materials reduces maintenance
costs as the tree's fibreglass
structure requires no maintenance. Any other type of material, in addition to design lim-

Santos Venetia,
Director
Flying to the sun
De Queiroz Pilz Daniel,
Director
Cogumelo S.A.

itations, would generate high
maintenance costs.
The use of composites increases
the product's life, as it can withstand rain, wind and sun. The
Solar Tree offers other advantages including high impact resistance and post-thermoformability due to the use of Elium resin.
The tree is lightweight and can
be easily transported and assembled. It is recyclable and offers
new material assembly possibilities. Printed organic photovoltaic panels can be bonded directly
onto the product.
The Solar Tree also has the social function of making people
aware of sustainability. The use
of composites also offers enhanced marketing opportunities
as advertisement and publicity

Energy for Smart City

jec composites magazine / SPECIAL ISSUE #2 / November 2019

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Special Issue Smart Cities - November 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Special Issue Smart Cities - November 2019