Pompeii, the ancient Roman city, has a neat addition on its roofs.
It is hard to understand what the big deal is – even when we take a closer look.
But these terracotta-like roofs are actually “invisible solar” photovoltaic panels manufactured by an Italian company called Dyaqua.
“They look exactly like the terracotta tiles used by the Romans, but they produce the electricity that we need to light the frescoes,” says Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of the archaeological park of Pompeii, in a press release (see this article for more).
“Pompeii is an ancient city which in some spots is fully preserved,” Zuchtriegel says. “Since we needed an extensive lighting system, we could either keep consuming energy, leaving poles and cables around and disfiguring the landscape, or choose to respect it and save millions of euros.” The new technology will help the archaeological site to cut energy bills and make it more enjoyable, he adds.
Over the past 5 years, I’ve been consistent in my belief that solar will go mainstream when it isn’t the “right” thing to do because of sustainability reason but because it makes common sense given costs. We’re already at that point – solar is the cheapest form of electricity and will continue to get cheaper.
But this is a whole different proposition. This makes solar a no-brainer investment that is also… cool.
Pompeii is ushering us into a new era.
Who would’ve thought?
