Greek engineer Yiannis Sachsamanoglou and his team have managed to develop the technology required for a home elevator to function at a low cost on solar energy. Their project was chosen by the European Commission to be the Greek entry in the EU Climate Campaign for 2012. Sachsamanoglou, who got the idea of a solar lift from his young daughter, says that creating an adequate photovoltaic system is not difficult per se; the real challenge was making it cost effective. The team achieved this after four years of extensive research, hoping that the cost will further decrease when a mass scale production of solar lifts creates economies of scale.
The solar elevator has very low power consumption (about 80% less than conventional lifts) and works with batteries which are charged using solar power -for three days- or, on a cloudy day, single-phase electric power. This way, the lift is functional even during a power cut, earthquake or fire, so there is no chance for users to be trapped in the cabin.
With the latest safety measures and compliance certification, this is a lift that not only satisfies people's mobility needs, it also leaves a greener environment.
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