My solar ‘tree’ could help climate and energy crises

AN entrepreneur from Henley has launched a “solar tree” which he believes could help tackle the world’s climate crisis.

Harry Corrigan designed the 16ft tall device, which looks like a tree and is fitted with thousands of tiny photovoltaic panels, to harness solar energy.

He says it could produce enough energy to power a three-bedroom home for 30 years.

Mr Corrigan, 74, of Rupert Lane, has been working on the device for the last 10 years with his company, Solar Botanic Trees, and scientists at Brunel University in London.

He said he wanted to do it for his grandsons, Aidan, 21, Kailan, 17, and Landon, 15, to help save the planet.

Mr Corrigan, who is Australian, said: “If we don’t start recognising we have a problem, our kids are not going to have a future. We will leave them with a barren land.

“Here in Henley, we don’t have the monsoons, hurricanes or droughts but they will increase.

“I’m hoping things like this tree will make people realise that there is a possibility of saving the planet.”

He has been an entrepreneur all his working life. His previous ventures included converting post office vehicles into camper vans and creating a protective coating for oil rigs to reduce corrosion by sea water.

He had the idea for the solar tree while on holiday in the south of France with his wife Cora after retiring a decade ago. Mr Corrigan recalled: “I’m sitting under this magnificent big tree watching a big wind turbine and I thought, ‘There has got be a better way to do this’.

“I wasn’t previously driven by environment concerns. I was driven by money but I decided it was time to do something for the environment.”

He spent a year developing his idea before approaching the university.

Mr Corrigan said: “As an entrepreneur, I come up with a idea and try to find a scientific institution to turn it nto reality.”

He worked with various students to refine the solae tree idea but they would always encounter the same problem.

“The challenge was always getting enough energy,” he said. “When you tilt a solar panel, you lose efficiency. We had to work out a way to have it on a tilt but retain the
efficiency.

“I had one student who was ferocious in her drive to find the best materials, the best device, everything.

“She went all over the place and talked to anyone who had ever made a solar cell to find out how you can get the most energy. She did a brilliant job but there still wasn’t enough.”

Mr Corrigan and his team eventually came up with the idea of using smaller panels instead of the large square ones used on roofs. They approached their manufacturers in Vietnam and America with the idea, but the companies were reluctant to comply.

He said: “These companies only really sell the big square ones. We were wanting to cut them up into a hundred different sections but they said they didn’t have the time or money.”

In 2020 Mr Corrigan flew to Vietnam to convince the manufacturer.

“I sold them the dream,” he said. “I told them we could make a difference and get away from those boring flat panels. They didn’t like it all that much but the head guy decided to give it a try.”

Once they had the smaller panels, Mr Corrigan and his team set about producing the final design of the solar tree at the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry and the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre at Sheffield University.

The prototype produces 3,500 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, which is more than the demand from an average three-bedroom home.

It has a battery in the trunk, meaning it can store energy and can exchange with the National Grid if sunlight is limited.

The device has received an Enterprise Investment Scheme qualification and Mr Corrigan hopes the first trees will be manufactured next year.

He is currently looking for investment to distribute the product.

“We’ve had a lot of interest from big and small investors,” he said. “I need someone that understands the environment and does not just see it as a money-making scheme.”

He envisages a tree would be in people’s gardens with a leasing scheme to help people afford the £10,000 price tag.

He also hopes they will be used in public places like car parks and town squares and they could even be used to charge electric vehicles.

Mr Corrigan said: “If we had one of these in the town square with a seating area at the bottom where people could sit and drink their coffees and charge their iPhones, that’s no big deal.

“If you can pull up charge your car without having to charge it from the grid that’s even better.”

Mr Corrigan believes the tree could also help with the UK’s energy problems and the threat of power blackouts.

He said: “They’re talking about having these power cuts and that’s probably going to happen more. This will help with energy security.”

Mr Corrigan said designing the solar tree had been the hardest venture of his life.

“I say to people I’m only 35 and that I look like this because of the tree,” he said. “It made me more determined when we came up against all the obstacles and people saying it wouldn’t work.

“I’m more optimistic now that people are starting to realise there is a need for it.”