Can smart cities power themselves?

IDTechEx Research has announced a global market report on self-powering smart cities covering the entire urban electricity generation picture, focusing only on zero emission technologies and looking forward to 2050.

The forecast report, Self-Powering Smart Cities 2018-2028, examines electricity production from city roads, windows, buildings, barriers, wind, water, invisible building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and includes infograms, forecasts, roadmaps and technology comparisons embracing activities of 241 organisations.

It is intended for distributed energy technology developers and users, property, road and campus developers, electricity utilities, urban planners, legislators and architects.

New technologies assessed

The report includes chapters on urban wind energy including: a full appraisal of airborne wind energy to be first commercialised in 2018; urban photovoltaics including how transparency and doubling efficiency is achieved; BIPV in action; self-powered multi-functional windows and glass.

New technologies are assessed in depth, some invisibly retrofittable like photovoltaic window coating and glass that powers its own electrically-operated darkening for privacy and climate control. This hugely increases the addressable markets. The report shows how this can be on a national grid, using the grid merely as back up or fully off-grid.

A solar road can also capture movement using piezoelectrics and vertical wind turbines down the centre of a road can harness wind from traffic

Another chapter appraises electricity generating roads, paths, fences and road furniture, and it concludes with an examination of urban blue energy from river and sea.

It also looks at emerging “complementary” technologies. For example, a solar road can also capture movement using piezoelectrics and vertical wind turbines down the centre of a road can harness wind from traffic.

According to IDTechEx, the emphasis is in on commercialisation and emerging options and claims it is the first to give a 20-year roadmap of the whole picture, importantly embracing more than the buildings, because, for example, solar paths, fences, road furniture (bus and vehicle charging shelters, signage, lamp posts) and roads together can be the dominant part of the electricity generating package.

For more information go to Self-Powering Smart Cities 2018-2028.

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