The amount of electricity generated by solar panels has surged over the last decade. But while rooftop solar panels are more common than ever, the balance of solar-power generation has shifted from power systems on individual homes to large-scale commercial arrays used by utilities. WSJ’s Danny Lewis sits down with energy and climate reporter Phred Dvorak and Pvilion CEO Colin Touhey to talk about the future of home solar, and the new role it might play in the power grid.
WSJ’s The Future of Everything
What will the future look like? The Future of Everything offers a view of the nascent trends that will shape our world. In every episode, join our award-winning team on a new journey of discovery. We’ll take you beyond what’s already out there, and make you smarter about the scientific and technological breakthroughs on the horizon that could transform our lives for the better.
To view this podcast on on the WSJ Podcast website, click here.
To kick off Season 2 of CleanTalk, Director-Producer Luke Harmer joins Colin Touhey, CEO and founder of Pvilion, for a discussion all about the integration of solar PV cells into fabrics. With a background in electrical engineering in the tent design space, Colin enlightens CleanTalk on how starting out in-house for another organization provided opportunities to get a new commercial offering off the ground with a wealth of resources at his fingertips.
CleanTalk is produced by Harmer Visuals, a corporate film production company specialising in data-driven storytelling for companies across renewable energy value chains. To find out more about how we can help you, visit: www.harmervisuals.com.
Pvilion’s Solar Fabric Sustainable Renovation for Community Gardens
As Awarded by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design.
Pvilion has designed, engineered, fabricated, and installed a custom solar fabric membrane with rainwater capture located atop a heavy timber frame structure built by the La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez Community Garden in lower Manhattan. The system includes energy storage, a device charging station, AC power for lights, fans or to power speakers and amplifiers for live music events, a graphic dashboard display showing performance of the system, and 1500 Watts of solar panels.
On an average day, the solar array can produce about 7kWh. The 10’ x 20’ structure acts as a social hub for community events and shelter for gardeners and guests. With the addition of solar power, the community garden now has the ability to provide amenities for the guests and users of the garden.
Pvilion’s patented solar technology offers a flexible solution in place of regular fabric, where traditional heavy glass solar panels would not work. The fabric is uniquely integrated with thin, flexible, lightweight solar panels. It is designed to be waterproof, fire-retardant, UV-resistant, and durable enough to withstand extreme wind loads and weather conditions.
The rainwater capture system included in this project features a water diverter that channels all of the rainwater from the roof into three large cisterns allowing the water to be used when needed by the garden. The solar powered fabric roof connects to a silent, clean battery storage system providing 270 Amp hours of capacity, enough to power lighting, tools, electric bicycles, cell phones, fans, and dozens of phones and laptop computers.
The system also features a dashboard that educates visitors with a graphic display about the power being generated and consumed in real time. The on-board electronics also features BlueTooth connectivity and a WiFi interface, allowing the system to be monitored remotely, and also to capture and transmit data files to document historic performance.
Pvilion’s solar canopy offers a unique contrast to the open-air heavy timber frame structure: the lightweight solar canopy now provides shade and rain protection all while harvesting precious rainwater and energy. It’s a long-awaited complement to this beloved community garden in lower Manhattan.
About the Green Good Design Sustainability Awards:
Green GOOD DESIGN Sustainability Awards goal is to bestow international recognition to those outstanding individuals, companies, organizations, governments, and institutions – together with their products, services, programs, ideas, and concepts-that have forwarded exceptional thinking and inspired greater progress toward a more healthier and more sustainable universe.
GOOD DESIGN™ was founded in Chicago in 1950 by Eero Saarinen, Charles and Ray Eames, and Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. to promote and foster a greater public understanding and acceptance for Modern Design.
Now in turn and in 2023, GREEN GOOD DESIGN‘s goal is to bestow international recognition to those outstanding individuals, companies, organizations, governments, and institutions – together with their products, services, programs, ideas, and concepts-that have forwarded exceptional thinking and inspired greater progress toward a more healthier and more sustainable universe.” (This is an excerpt from their website. Click here to read more on the original site.)
Why film sets are making the shift away from loud, polluting generators.
Pvilion Blog | June 24, 2024 | By Julia Fowler
From cameras to craft services and sets to studio lights, it’s no question that the entertainment industry is a massive source of global pollution. As more production companies become increasingly aware of the harmful environmental effects of their productions, many companies are beginning to take measures to reduce their impact. Thanks to several mainstream publications shining light on the harm caused, more effective action is beginning to take place than ever before.
To name a few, Disney, Netflix, and RMI have recently made public commitments to specific sustainable goals, including replacing diesel generators with clean mobile power solutions. In fact, the need is so great that there are now agencies dedicated to improving sustainability efforts on film sets. Companies like EcoSet and Earth Angel are hired by production companies to introduce strategies and solutions to reduce their carbon footprint.
While waste reduction and recycling are beneficial, the greatest offender on sets are the emissions released from fuel used for power. The generators used to power sets are releasing millions of metric tons of C02 every year. As a result, experts are suggesting eliminating the need for generators as much as possible.
Recently TIME shared an article, Film and TV’s Carbon Footprint Is Too Big to Ignore, that takes a closer look at the impact of the entertainment industry’s carbon footprint. “Every year, the global entertainment industry generates millions of metric tons of CO2. Depending on the size of the production, movies can emit on average between 391 metric tons for a small film and up to 3,370 metric tons of CO2 equivalents for large, tentpole productions such as Oppenheimer or Barbie—that’s the equivalent of powering 656 homes for a year,” according to the article.
Not only are these emissions incredibly harmful to the environment, they are harmful for the crew working around them. A 2019 study conducted by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s Global Burden of Disease found that air pollution was the third highest ranking risk factor of diseases that resulted in death globally. Other studies – like those by Energy Report – have found that the average diesel generator emits fumes that contain over 40 toxic air pollutants, most of which are carcinogenic. Dangerous fumes are only part of the risk associated with working around generators; they are also a major source of noise pollution. Most generators emit anywhere from 85 to 105 decibels and are a common cause of hearing loss for those that spend time around them.
This is why experts recommend shifting to more sustainable options, like batteries. Batteries can be used in conjunction with solar systems. Solar powered batteries are an optimal source of clean energy, flexibility, and can provide power independent from the grid. Not only this, but thanks to the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, solar powered battery systems qualify for a 30% tax credit.
How Can Pvilion Help?
From lighting, to makeup trailers, catering, and everything in between, the demand for reliable off-grid power on a production set is high. Pvilion works with production companies to provide battery kit solutions that exceed the expectations of a traditional generator. Pvilion battery kits are:
Completely silent. None of the loud and excessive noises associated with diesel generators.
Eco-friendly. The systems release zero-emissions.
User Friendly. Batteries are designed to be easily used by anyone, without the need of an expert.
Modular. They can be scaled up or down to meet power needs.
Easy to stack and move. They are integrated with durable Pelican cases.
Solar-ready.They can be used as-is or can connect to a solar source. Solar allows for sustainably sourced power without needing to re-fuel or connect to the grid. (Perfect when paired with a Pvilion Solar-Powered Fabric Shelter, which could qualify them for a 30% incentive tax credit.
Interested in using a Pvilion battery on your next production? Pvilion offers battery rental kits for purchase with or without a complete solar fabric system. For businesses located in New York City, Pvilion offers a battery rental program – with the option for daily on-site delivery. Rentals can be scaled to meet power need and can be rented on a short-term or long-term basis. Want to learn more? Get in touch with our battery rental team for
Visitors to the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx looking for a brief respite to refuel and recharge have been doing so for the past few years under canopies that now can be called award-winning. Last fall Pvilion received recognition in the BLT Built Design Awards in one of the Landscape Architecture categories for this project. Strategically located near the botanical garden’s food truck area, the eight shade canopies have solar cells integrated into the fabric.
The New York Botanical Garden was the launch site for the company’s solar-powered canopy structures. The lightweight, turnkey canopies are fire-retardant, UV-resistant, sturdy and aesthetically pleasing—the latter of which was important to the client. Their installation was part of a pilot project funded by the Innovative Demonstrations for Energy Adaptability (IDEA) Program, an initiative of New York City’s Division of Energy Management that engaged vendors testing new or underused energy technologies. As a part of the city’s carbon emission reduction efforts, seven of the canopies contribute energy directly to the city’s power grid.
“It’s only fitting that the New York Botanical Garden, a place known for its greenery, will be leading the way with green energy technologies,” said Lisette Camilo, commissioner of the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services, at the time of the canopies’ installation.
The testing and demonstration time period for the canopies spanned July 2020 to December 2021. The study recorded results and listed notes for installation best practices. Because of this pilot, the canopies are popping up in other areas of the city as well, the company says, such as public library locations.
The BLT Built Design Awards program has four annual honors in landscape, architectural and interior design, and construction segments. The landscape awards in particular honor exceptional design that’s resilient, forward thinking and ecologically sensitive. “The award recognizes planning, design, management and nurturing of the built and natural environments,” the awards website notes. Open to entrants around the world and projects from the previous five years, the BLT Built Design awards are part of Three C Group GmbH, a Swiss company.
Pvilion Blog | February 23, 2024 | By Julia Fowler
In any emergency, two of the most essential tools are shelter and power. Without first meeting the need for shelter and power during times of crisis, individuals are left vulnerable, and emergency responders cannot treat the community as safely until they are in place.
Types of Disaster
Disaster can strike anywhere at any time. This map from the American Red Cross demonstrates where different types of natural disasters are likely to occur in the US.
There are a variety of situations that constitute a state of emergency, including the following:
Natural disasters like earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes, extreme temperatures, tornadoes, wildfires, and floods
Public health crises
Man-made conflicts such as war
When a state of emergency or other similar event takes place, the appropriate emergency management teams will take action in the affected communities. Response actions are typically organized by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Need for Shelter
When disaster strikes, shelters serve many purposes. It is one of our most basic requirements for survival – according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, shelter falls under the most essential human need, physiological needs. Temporary shelter is also one of the core clusters recognized by the United Nations for greater coordination in humanitarian crises.
Not only does shelter offer us a place of refuge, but also space for privacy, dignity, security, treatment, and recovery. Temporary shelter rapidly provides this space during the response phase of an emergency and helps allow for a smooth transition to recovery following disaster.
Shelter Application in an Emergency
Resiliency hubs
Medical facilities
Temporary housing
Storage & distribution centers
Communication/command centers
Need for Essential Power
Power is essential for access to medical equipment, heating and cooling systems, communication tools, lighting, water supply, and other critical devices. In situations where affected areas are left with disruptions to the local power grid, the need for power can become dire.
The Power of Solar
When considering off-grid power systems, solar offers several advantages. Some of the key benefits of utilizing solar in emergencies include:
Sustainable power. Solar is a renewable resource that harvests the sun’s energy and stores it in batteries that don’t release harmful emissions.
No need for fuel resupply. Since solar power is continuously derived from photovoltaic panels, there is no need to source battery systems with fuel.
Dependability. During times of crisis, it is important to have a system you can rely on to provide power for essential activities.
User friendly. Solar power systems are very user friendly and require little maintenance.
Silent. The batteries used in solar power systems are completely silent, unlike the loud and ear damaging roar of a diesel generator.
How Can Pvilion Help?
Pvilion’s Solar Power Integrated Structures (SPIS) integrate solar power into shelters that are designed to meet the specific needs of emergency response. The features of Pvilion’s SPIS include:
It’s important to be prepared for unexpected situations and emergencies. Our focus at Pvilion is to make clean energy and shelter available in any setting, at any time. Pvilion’s Solar Powered Integrated Structures are designed to be durable and easy to use. That way, when the unexpected occurs, communities have easy access to safe and reliable shelter and power as quickly as possible.
30% Incentive Tax Credit
All Pvilion Solar Powered Integrated Structures also qualify for a 30 percent tax credit thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act. Under this act, nonprofits, government agencies, and other tax-exempt entities can still benefit through the elective pay provision. This means purchasers can receive 30 percent of the entire system’s value back, thanks to its solar integration.
To learn more about how the ITC works, click here.
Want to learn more about how Pvilion Solar Powered Integrated Structures can help with your resiliency needs? Get in touch with our solar shelter experts to learn more and receive a free quote.
In an effort to replace noisy, polluting diesel generators, Pvilion has created solar-powered fabric kits that can be used to provide event spaces with self-sustaining, environmentally friendly power. The kits are lightweight, flexible, easily folded up, and designed for ease of transport. The solar-powered fabric can be quickly set-up on any surface that receives sunlight and used to power silent, clean-energy battery kits. They are modular and can be scaled to meet different power output needs for event venues.
INDUSTRY CITY — A Brooklyn-based solar-powered fabric designer and manufacturer is following a proven Industry City model of training and hiring from neighboring Brooklyn communities. The company, Pvilion, was founded by Park Slope native Colin Touhey, and recently hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate their expansion and grand opening of a new headquarters.
Demonstrating their new technology and introducing an expansion of employees through BlocPower and the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, Pvilion held a press conference Wednesday, Dec. 13, in their new headquarters overlooking New York Harbor.
Showing off their new 13,500-square-foot office and manufacturing space in Industry City’s Building 8 marks a huge milestone for the small business. It also celebrates its recent partnership with BlocPower to provide valuable clean energy job training within low-income communities and communities of color to develop the skills needed to build a clean energy future.
“We’re thrilled to celebrate this huge milestone with so many members of the community! The new headquarters will provide enough space to significantly increase our local manufacturing for commercial and defense products. We have already hired more employees to help with production in this new manufacturing space, and we hope to continue to expand and create more jobs in the clean energy space within New York City,” said Colin Touhey, CEO and co-founder of Pvilion.
Through their partnership with BlocPower’s Civilian Climate Corps program, Pvilion will continue to provide green job training in their new space. Additionally, this recent growth has led to the hiring of new full-time employees from BlocPower’s training program to help manufacture clean energy projects.
An example of the equipment manufactured in the space. This tent structure made of solar collecting material could contain electronic equipment for a rock band or a military operation in the desert. Photo: John McCarten/Brooklyn Eagle.
This grand opening celebrates the small business’s growth, expanding upon 10 years of manufacturing clean energy products in Brooklyn for customers from New York City to Ukraine, Guam, California and Asia. Among their clients are U.S. government projects and major rock bands, whose lights and equipment normally require diesel-fueled generators at the scene of the concert. Now, their solar collecting equipment enables rock bands to be more ‘green’ in major public spaces, like parks.
Colin Touhey speaks. Photo: John McCarten/Brooklyn Eagle.
Following the ceremony, Pvilion held an open house and technology demo and exhibit for guests to tour within the new space. Guests were able to tour a variety of Pvilion’s solar-powered fabric products, battery systems and production processes. The exhibit included opportunities to walk through solar-powered tents and learn more about the social, economic, and carbon impact of each project within New York City.
The ribbon is cut. Photo: John McCarten/Brooklyn Eagle.
To view the original article on the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, click here.
The Investment Tax Credit (ITC) originated from the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Although it was originally set to end in 2007, its success in promoting the shift to renewable energy in the United States led to many extensions over the past several years.
Most recently, the Inflation Reduction Act was signed by President Biden in August of 2022, extending the ITC for the next ten years. This means that businesses can continue to benefit from a 30 percent tax credit until 2032. The tax credit will remain available at 26 percent in 2033 and 22 percent in 2034.
Elective pay, also referred to as direct pay, is a provision of the Inflation Reduction Act that allows tax-exempt entities to join the private sector in benefitting from the incentive program. It essentially makes qualifying clean energy tax credits refundable. Qualifying entities can now receive payment from the IRS of equal value to the ITC for any qualifying clean energy project.
How Does it Work?
So, for example, if the ‘City of Solarsville’ purchased Pvilion Solar Canopies for each of their parks, the city could apply to receive up to 30% or $40,000 (whichever is lower) of the entire solar canopy system back through elective pay. That would be 30% of the entire project’s cost, including the structure, battery storage systems, installation labor and permitting, hardware and equipment, and applicable sales tax. That money could then be used by the city for any other projects or programs.
This Entire System + Cost of Installation Qualifies for the ITC
How Can You Apply for Elective Pay?
According to whitehouse.gov, the steps for applying for elective pay are as follows:
This is the first time that tax-exempt entities have had the opportunity to use this type of tax incentive. This will help nonprofits, government agencies, and many more to save money on clean energy and allow them to allocate more funds towards their mission.
Want to learn more about how Pvilion Solar Canopies can transform your outdoor space? Get in touch with our solar fabric experts to learn more and receive a free quote.
Disclaimer: This post was prepared for informational purposes only and is not intended to be used as financial or tax advice. You should consult your own tax, legal, and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction.
