Litomerice, North Bohemia, May 3 (CTK) – The first solar bench in the Czech Republic where people can recharge their telephones and tablets and whose prototype was presented by a team of students and scientists in Prague in 2015, was launched in the Vaclav Havel Park in Litomerice on Tuesday.
The smart bench also monitors the quality of the air and energy consumption and offers wireless connection to the Internet, all with the use of solar energy.
Eighty-five percent of the cost of 100,000 crowns was paid by the town from a subsidy provided within a programme of Czech-Swiss cooperation.
Three people at a time can recharge their electronic devices on the bench via USB connectors. The bench also functions at night, when it is raining and when it is cloudy.
“Solar panels charge the battery that is supposed to last up to 15 days even when the sun is not shining,” said Jitka Nesrstova, project manager of Full CapaCity which participated in the production of the bench.
The bench of concrete, glass, steel and wood is monitored by a town camera. It is 2.2 metres long and less than one metre high. It weighs about 400 kilograms. The solar panel is placed behind the backrest.
Nesrstova said other towns in the Czech Republic as well as abroad and private firms have already showed interest in the smart solar bench, inspiration for which was found in the United States.
The bench was presented at EXPO 2015 in Milan already.
