Energy Trees

Surrounding the Sustainability Pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020 are the Energy Trees that track the sun and generate power through photovoltaic panels.

The designs emerged to complement the surrounds of the Pavilion and to provide additional power as required for the building operations and exhibition spaces. The eighteen E-Trees are distributed around the site and steel stems of various heights emerge from the landscape to support the futuristic upper branches and discs that are more than sixteen meters in diameter. From beneath the trees, the solar panels can be seen by the visitors, the sunshine will dapple through the glass, and if you stand there long enough you will be able to see the Energy tree in rotation as it tracks the sun.

The Energy Trees also provide shade above the queuing areas, visitor walkways and landscaped areas. Using a rotating vertical axis that is concealed in the structural stem, the forms of the Energy Trees have been designed to optimize solar harnessing from morning to evening and throughout all seasons. The polished white upper discs are angled at 25 degrees and are built using composite materials to support the glass trapezoidal photovoltaic panels while keeping the structures light to assist their ability to rotate. The combined kilowatt peak is over 600,000 kWp which is equivalent to 1.3 Gigawatts of annual energy production or well over a billion watts. All the additional power that is not used for the buildings can be added to the power grid.