Reversing climate change can often seem like a herculean effort requiring massive investment in futuristic technologies.
But a group of four researchers from Switzerland is driving across the U.S. solely on sun power to prove that many bright solutions to reduce greenhouse gases are right at the world’s fingertips.
The group brought the Solar Butterfly — a solar-powered tiny house pulled by a Tesla — through Lawrenceville last Tuesday on the second continental leg of what will be a 90-country world tour.
“We want to showcase that the world is full of solutions,” said Noël Heinz, a climate researcher and entrepreneur leading the expedition from Canada to Panama, where the butterfly will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Paris Climate Accords.
Along the six month journey, most of the time will be spent stationary as the butterfly’s unfurled “wings” and a set of ancillary panels spend six hours soaking up 15 KWh of power, enough for about 130 miles of range — about two hours of highway driving time — on a sunny day.
In between, the crew hosts events to raise awareness and spotlights transformative climate technologies from “climate pioneers” on the butterfly’s social media accounts.
“There are so many solutions around; we just need to start to use them, so we want to present the thousand solutions we found on the way to leaders and say, ‘We can do it. We just need to use the solutions,’” Mr. Heinz told a group of community leaders, Swiss companies and clean-energy advocates assembled at Elma Electronics, a Swiss radar provider for the U.S. Navy that makes server cabinets made to contain the systems’ “brains” at its Gwinnett County factory.
Alessandro Guarini, president of Elma Electronic Americas, said the company will soon disclose its plans to reach net-zero emissions across all operations by 2050, an effort that will include the installation of solar panels on factories in both California and Georgia. (Elma is a sponsor of the project.)
A hands-on tour of the whimsical Solar Butterfly, left cheerfully charging in the blinding sun of Elma’s parking lot, awaited guests following the reception and remarks.
The idea for the project stemmed from the efforts of Louis Palmer, a former Swiss schoolteacher who in 2008 used a solar-powered electric vehicle to become the first person to travel around the world only on solar energy.
Bolstered by the journey of what he called the Solartaxi, and enamored with the idea of the butterfly as an optimistic symbol of change, he worked with 100 volunteer students and researchers at Lucerne University to create the Solar Butterfly in 2021. The first tour around Europe took place earlier this year, hitting 27 countries and covering 17,000 miles while hosting 150 events.
Omar Aleiwi, who organized the event on behalf of the Consulate General of Switzerland in Atlanta, said the butterfly exemplifies “the innovative and sustainable spirit of Switzerland” and its commitment to fighting climate change, partially for its own good.
“The average temperature in Switzerland is already 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit higher than it was 150 years ago. That’s 2 degrees Celsius. And we can all see how fast our glaciers are melting — almost like ice cream in the summer heat of Atlanta,” Mr. Aleiwi said.
While nearly two-thirds of Switzerland’s electricity comes from clean hydropower, Mr. Aleiwi said that protecting the environment at a time of elevated energy needs necessitates new thinking.
“The federal government of Switzerland promotes the construction of alpine solar parks and provides financial incentives for companies and households to install solar panels,” Mr. Aleiwi said, noting that the Swiss parliament is debating making it mandatory for all new buildings of approximately 300 square meters or more to install solar panels.
Today, 6 percent of Switzerland’s electricity production comes from photovoltaics. The goal is to cover 40 percent of future electricity demand with solar power by 2050.
“Yet not only these measures, but also what we’re doing right here today, make me feel positive that we can still achieve change towards a more sustainable world and society in time,” Mr. Aleiwi said.
This isn’t the first time Swiss researchers have undertaken a daunting worldwide crusade to showcase what’s possible. The Solar Impulse, the plane that first flew around the world using solar power, was chaired and piloted by Swiss explorers.
During the Gwinnett event, the group heard from representatives from organizations working to boost solar adoption in Georgia, including the Georgia Solar Energy Association and Solarize Gwinnett, an incentives program designed to boost panel installations by residents. CuriosityLab, a testing ground smart-city and connected-vehicle technology, was also on the docket.
The Solar Butterfly’s schedule for Europe & North America in 2023:
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• April to June 2023, the SolarButterfly will travel
through Switzerland, Austria, Germany and the UK
on the way to the port in Liverpool
• June 30th to July 21st : Canada
• July 22nd to October 21st : United States of
America
• October 22nd to October 23rd: Mexico
• October 24th to December 21st: : Central America
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Follow the butterfly on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, or visit https://solarbutterfly.org.