How cool is this?

[Playinghardball]

Envision Solar, yes an American company, presents their new Solar tree concept on November 13.

[JimDandy]

1. I like the concept. Parking lots already are asphalt wastelands.

Adding a 2nd layer function helps.

[notadmblnd]

2. How much do you think they'll charge for it?

Do you think the price will the price be comparable to gasoline?

[DreamGypsy]

3. An example of cost for Envision Solar Trees

From Wikipedia:

In May 2006, The first Solar Grove, consisting of 25-trees, was installed at the Kyocera International, Inc. parking lot in San Diego, California. The Solar Grove provided more than 100 percent of electricity of the San Diego Kyocera office and saved Kyocera $50,000 in electricity costs in the first year by generating 428,000 kilowatt hours of electricity,[1][3] which is enough electricity to power 68 average San Diego single-family homes.[7] The Solar Groves at Kyocera International cost approxmitly (sic) $3 million before the application of slightly more than $1 million in subsidies and incentives.[3]

So, ~$80,000 per solar tree.

There are a couple of Wikipedia disclaimers about the topic (so apply your own grains of NaCl):

This article appears to be written like an advertisement. Please help improve it by rewriting promotional content from a neutral point of view and removing any inappropriate external links. (June 2012)
This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (June 2012)

[johnd83]

4. I hope something like this is economical

I am not that big a fan of solar power in general because it takes up so much space, but it sure as hell is better for light to hit this than a parking lot or rooftop. We also need solar cells that are less toxic to manufacture...

[pinboy3niner]

5. Solar parking is widespread throughout my area in SoCal

Not the tree design, but solar carports are a standard feature at the local junior college, local high schools, and even at least one church.