A Japanese consortium have come together to create a device that looks like a plant, but is in fact a solar power generator where the cells are disguised into the fake leaves.

This is just one of their many projects to try to integrate solar technology into everyday environments. I don’t see this being terribly popular, but here in London, Ontario Canada, we have metal trees that are pink, purple, yellow and orange lining the streets and I think a more realistic looking model with solar cell leaves would be much more of a benefit both to the community, and my eyes.

This latest endeavour comes from the folks at Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Mitsubishi, and Tokki Corp.

I really like the idea of including more solar technology in our day to day lives without making it overly apparent, or at least ugly. I hope though that the efficiency of these trees is high so that they provide enough benefit to replace the benefit of having a real tree in the same spot.

Source: Engadget

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