'Solar' cyclists set off on 12,000-mile journey
The UK solar industry’s “We Support Solar” campaign is joining SolarAid and G24 Innovations to back three environmental campaigners on a round-the-world bicycle expedition that aims to highlight the potential of solar energy in the fight against climate change.
Along with leg power, cyclists Susie Wheeldon, Jamie Vining and Iain Henderson are equipped with thin-film photovoltaic (PV) panels — custom-built into their panniers by G24 Innovations — to power Nokia navigation, communications and sports technology, allowing supporters to follow them second by second around the globe.
The team set off from London’s City Hall last Friday, which was also European Solar Day. The planned nine-month, 12,000-mile journey through 14 countries was organised to raise money for SolarAid, the UK charity established by Jeremy Leggett, one of the world’s leading thinkers on environmental sustainability.
“Their trip demonstrates the very latest solar technology, which not only has an important role to play in tackling climate change but also helps to support the development of the green economy,” said London Mayor Boris Johnson.
Together with the “We Support Solar” campaign, the cyclists are calling for the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference to recognise solar photovoltaics’ ability to address the credit, energy and climate crunch with a “global feed-in tariff.” They are also asking the UN to consider the potential for concentrating solar power (CSP) stations to harness the suns rays, as promoted by the Desertec Foundation.
“With the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference at the end of the year, we have an amazing opportunity to adopt technology that can tackle climate change and create new sustainable industry,” Wheeldon said. “This expedition allows us to highlight already available solar solutions as well as demonstrate how solar energy can be used to power everyday appliances such as our phones.”
The three cyclists will use Nokia N79 Active devices to geo-tag, blog, Tweet and Facebook throughout their expedition, which will be chronicled at The SolarCycle Diaries.
