While this could be a great decoration piece for your garden, luckily it is not just one of those ultra displays of vanity and wastefulness. The Smartflower POP is an alternative solar panel that bids to replace the more traditional roof-bound solar panels both in style and performance.
The panel is quite easy to install, nearly matching the claims of its creators of being plug and play as you just need to pop it in your garden, screw it into the ground, and ta-da!
Besides being more aesthetically pleasing and easier to install, the Smartflower POP claims that it can generate 40% more electricity per square meter than a rooftop solar system as it rotates on its axis to make sure it’s always directly facing the sun, just like a sunflower.
This system also enables it to provide a more consistent supply of electricity across the day, unlike the static solar panels where the output rises and falls according to the time of the day and sunlight intensity. The creators claim that the Smartflower POP increases the amount of power provided by 100% due to very minimal wastage.
The Smartflower POP has a diameter of 4.4 meters and a surface area of 18 meters squared. This is a lot smaller than an average roof solar panel system but is still capable of generating over 4,000 kWh per year depending on the on where you live. This means you can use on of these to stay entirely off the grid for an average sized house in the UK, which consumes about 4600 kWh.
The company offers the product through dealers in several countries, and while there’s no mention of the official price, it is estimated to cost around £15,000. This is double of what many rooftop systems cost but it’s worth busting your wallet when you consider the multitude of benefits.
