Smart Palm Trees for Palma?

Could Smart Palms sit side by side with the traditional green palm trees seen around the city of Palma?

It’s interesting to look at what is happening in other sunny locations.

Dubai is the largest city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). One of the seven emirates that make up the country on the southeast coast of the Persian Gulf.

It has developed at an incredible pace, especially in the tourist and trade business sectors earning Dubai the right to host the 2020 World Expo with the theme “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future“. Dubai has evolved into a bustling metropolis in a relatively short space of time and become one of the most modern cities in the world.

All images courtesy of Smart Palm

Over the last few years Dubai has installed over 100 Smart Palm trees as part of the Emirates Smart Palm Project. Their leaves are made out of photovoltaic solar panels which are positioned on top of the Smart Palm leaves. During the day, they capture the sun’s rays and use it to operate and recharge devices. As a percentage of their energy is also stored, it allows these Smart Palms to become street lamps after sunset.

The Smart Palms include six different features: solar panels, a Wifi source, multilingual smart touch screens, information screens showing daily news and other public messages, charging stations for cell phones and tablets plus an emergency system. This emergency system features a 360-degree infrared camera as well as an emergency button for notifying the authorities.

The Smart Palm website says that the “Seating area is available next to each Palm for resting and relaxation during the battery charging process, as well as for comfortable internet browsing via the complimentary Wi-Fi access.”

Would you like to see Smart Palms in and around the city of Palma de Mallorca?