Solar Landmarks

About the city. Solar landmarks are part of the 2022 Solar City project.

Goal

According to the main goal of the project, by 2022, every public building and 1 million homes in the city are set to be powered by solar. Moreover,  it’s important to reduce carbon emissions by more than 100 tonnes. An additional goal of solar landmarks is entertainment. It was important for the government to create “eco-friendly” attractions.

Implementation period. Implementation started in 2019.

Fact

In 2014, Seoul was the first in the nation to begin a veranda-type sunlight generation supply project with the goal of distributing mini sunlight generation plants to 1 million households. The city announced the “2022 Comprehensive Plan for the City of Solar Power” in 2017 as the first local government in the nation to support a solar generation plant rental service for detached houses.

Solutions

The solar landmarks are part of the comprehensive “2022 Solar City, Seoul” project that the city announced for expanded provision of 1GW of solar energy by 2022. These landmarks are the first part of this project in Seoul.

“Seoul hopes that by creating solar power landmarks it can emulate the success of Europe’s pioneering solar city – Freiburg, Germany – where the suburb of Vauban has become a tourist attraction thanks to its innovative solar-friendly architecture”.

The solar energy facility installed in the World Cup Park in Seoul is a circle-shaped stage with 20 metres. The solar energy-powered LED panels planted in the park’s ground generate energy with sunlight of daytime and show fancy LED video art at night.

To establish “Solar Square” in the Constellation Square in the park, the sidewalk block-type panels were used for the first time in the country. 1,171 solar panels were installed around the edges of the square and 2,457 LED sidewalk blocks were installed in the centre.

At night, fancy graphic videos showing flowers and constellations on the stage attract attention from visitors, and children love the place as they play freely on the moving images. The SMG explained that it would arouse interest from visitors with simple and clear images, and the space will also be put to use for citizen events such as festivals. The videos are displayed six times after sunset (for 15 min. in 15 min. intervals) all year round.

As the World Cup Park is easily accessible for citizens who use nearby facilities, such as the Seoul World Cup Stadium, Haneul Park and the Oil Tank Culture Park, the SMG expects that the Solar Square will not only provide citizens with things to watch and enjoy but arouse awareness surrounding eco-friendly, solar panel energy.

Additionally, the bicycle lane near the Riverside Stage in Ttukseom Hangang Park was equipped with solar panels and LED blocks to ensure the safety of citizens, improving visibility for nighttime bicycle users. 288 solar panels and 504 LED sidewalk blocks were installed along the “Solar Road” that spans 250 metres along the bicycle lane.

Team

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG).

Timeline

The SMG keeps monitoring the amount of generated electricity and the durability of the solar panel facilities, using this information as baseline data for establishing solar panel roads. Additionally, the solar panel sidewalk blocks are expected to be used in a number of fields, including wireless or wired charge of electronic vehicles, establishment of smart roads and cities, and more.

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