These solar “Palm Trees” in Dubai will charge phones at parks and beaches

Look at what’s installed and ready-for-use in Dubai this summer: “Smart palms” that store solar energy during the day and discharge power at night. Smart Palm, the company, has set up two so far—one on Surf Beach, another in a park near the waterfront. It plans to plant them in 103 locations under a contract with the United Arab Emirates city.

Within just decades Dubai has evolved from not much more than a strip of desert and sleepy fishing village into a bustling metropolis and one of the World’s most modern cities. Dubai has recently won the right to host the World Expo 2020, with the theme of ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’.

The palms stand about 20 feet high, with solar fronds measuring 194 square feet (18 meters square). There are eight charging points and the palms have Wi-Fi range of 100 meters, according to the company. Less attractively, they also have screens and security cameras. “For us, it was important to translate the important cultural identity of the date palm from being a plant that provided shelter, building materials, shade and sustenance, to our Smart Palm, designed to provide data, connectivity, energy and all in a sustainable manner,” says Viktor Nelepa, Smart Palm’s founder.

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