switzerland

Solar Retaining Wall Goes Live in Switzerland

- Adam Clare

solar retaining wall alongside a road

It might seem odd to put solar panels on the side of walls in a region with mountains, but that’s exactly what’s happening in Switzerland. One of the cantons in the country is looking to be powered by at least 40% renewables by 2035 (which is quite achievable); with terrain being scarce it’s hard to place large solar installations. However, retaining walls in some areas get a lot of sunlight depending on their orientations (south facing would generate more for example) and with geography like Switzerland’s there are a lot of retaining walls. The cantons of Appenzell Ausserhoden’s first installation generations 325kW which is the equivalent of 52 Swiss households.

The PV system was anchored on and in the masonry using an adhesive technique. An anchoring depth of a maximum of 90 mm could not be exceeded so that the retaining wall would not be adversely affected.

Due to the close proximity to the asphalt, the solar panels’ components are subject to exceptional corrosion requirements and are anodized for protection. Indirect components are made of aluminum – only the screw anchors are made of stainless steel.

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Will Iceland be the “Switzerland of Data”?

- Adam Clare

Iceland is the de facto home of Wikileaks and is also a country concerned with privacy issues. The country is now considering leveraging their experience and reputation of being digital-data friendly to the next level. Presently, the country is considering branding itself as the “Switzerland of Data.”

If Iceland does move ahead with this, it means that the country will become one of the most important players in the 21st century similar to how Switzerland was with banks in the 20th.

The International Modern Media Institute (IMMI), a non-profit organisation, has played an instrumental role in designing and promoting the legal framework for Iceland’s new data privacy laws.

Following the country’s 2010 financial crisis, mass protests broke out against the nepotism, corruption and lack of transparency exposed by the collapse. A group of Icelandic activists began working on an initiative to create the world’s strongest media and free speech protection laws, as well as a state-of-the-art privacy law.

Birgitta Jónsdóttir is IMMI’s spokeswoman and now represents the Pirate Party in the Icelandic parliament. She met Al Jazeera at her office in Reykjavik and explained that one of IMMI’s goals is “to allow people working on human rights or investigative journalists, as well as people who want to host data on a massive scale, to be free from worrying about privacy issues”.

She added: “Iceland should become for information what Switzerland is for money.”

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Carpeted Financial District in Switzerland

- Adam Clare

Thanks Cory!

In the financial distrct of St. Gallen, Switzerland there is now carpeting. It’s an art installation named Stadtlounge that has covered the entire district in red broadloom – including cars!

The winning “Stadtlounge” or “city lounge” proposal, by artist Pipilotti Rist and the Carlos Martinez architectural firm, features a bright red surfacing that appears to have swept in like the tide, covering everything in its path. At night, the streets are illuminated by blimp-shaped objects that hang from cables strung between the district’s modern office buildings.

When I grow up I want to be astronaut, from Switzerland!

Via Boing

Zepplins for Communication

- Adam Clare 1 Comment

Large airships, like a Zeppelin, will be floating overhead and beaming cell phone calls to planet’s surface if a Swiss inventor has his way. The airship will use a new way to broadcast that produces less radiation, which is nice considering the ongoing debate about the dangers of cellphones.

Additionally, the airships will be solar powered and be robot controlled, which means that the cost will be low and nice on the environment.

“Thanks to a GPS steering system developed by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, the 60-meter long helium-filled balloon will remain stationary at 21 kilometres above the earth.

A small-unmanned aircraft outfitted with a mobile phone antenna and other devices for transmitting digital data will be attached to the zeppelin. The X station has been equipped with giant propellers to help counter the almost constant buffeting from the wind. “

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