Patio furniture company SunVilla and tech company Suntek have paired up to launch a solar + battery powered storage shed that can charge electric outdoor lawn equipment.
It’s called the Solar Powered Smart Yard, and its solar panels and semi-solid-state batteries power electric yard tools and outdoor furniture while they’re being stored.
And while the companies don’t actively promote it, their photo above shows electric bikes being stored, so it looks as though you could power up your e-bikes with clean energy in the shed as well.
Semi-solid-state batteries – in which one electrode doesn’t contain a liquid electrolyte and the other electrode does– are smaller, more stable, safer, and less expensive than lithium-ion batteries. They can achieve higher energy density, and they’re cheaper than li-ion batteries. But they’re still challenges with semi-solid batteries in terms of scale and commercialization.
The Solar Powered Smart Yard’s 6.4 kWh semi-solid state battery system features a 3.8 kW output, and 100-200 W solar panels are mounted on the shed’s roof.
Multiple devices can be powered in the solar + battery storage shed at the same time, and of course it also functions as – well, a shed – to store stuff.
The two companies are also producing electric outdoor power equipment that can be charged up in their clean energy shed:
The Solar Powered Smart Yard has Internet of Things technology and is controlled and monitored using the Suntek Smart Link app.
Suntek’s Solar Powered Smart Yard is available to retailers at Atlanta trade show Casual Market this month, and to US consumers in late 2023.
What do you think of this solar + storage-powered shed? Let us know in the comments below.
Read more: This backyard gazebo can power your house with solar
Photos: SunVilla/SunTek
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