The Spanish city of Valencia has an innovative plan to generate clean energy—turning cemeteries into hubs of green energy by installing solar panels on top. The project has been dubbed Requiem in Power, or RIP.
With the aim of phasing out fossil fuels, countries have begun a mission to make the best use of our natural resources, such as wind and solar, to meet our energy needs. Much of this effort is being put into building large-scale solar and wind farms that meet most of a city’s energy demand.
However, there is also a need for a distributed energy generation infrastructure that can help reduce dependence on the grid. Solar panels can be used to develop energy generation centers in smaller establishments, such as building rooftops and public spaces, such as gardens.
Valencia has found such a use for the additional space that is available in its cemeteries.
Requiem in Power
The Requiem in Power (RIP) project was launched in May and aims to become the largest urban solar farm in Spain.
Within the city limits, Valencia has identified multiple cemeteries that can accommodate 6,658 solar panels. Of these, 810 have already been laid down at multiple locations.
When complete, the project will generate over 440,000 kilowatts of energy and save 140 tons of carbon emissions every year. Most of the energy from these facilities will be used to power up municipal buildings, but 25 percent of the output is also reserved for vulnerable households.
The project is part of the Valencia 2030 Climate Mission, under which the city intends to meet 27 percent of its energy demand from renewable sources and use it for public infrastructure.
Not the first
Doubling a cemetery as an energy generation hub is a great idea because it preserves the land’s original use.
Unlike large-scale solar farms, where agricultural land may also be converted into an electricity generation center, the cemetery space continues to be available to the public as before, except that it is also producing energy now.
The city of Valencia deserves credit for such an innovative approach. However, it can not claim to be the first to do so.
The bragging rights for that are reserved with the cluster of islands located in the middle of Briere Marsh in France. The cemetery of this town is located east of the main island.
The townsfolk began installing solar panels in the cemetery some time ago and plan to have 1.3 MW of solar output by 2025. This will help supply power to the area’s 4,000 residents.
In addition, the cemetery is being used as a rainwater harvesting facility, which is helping reduce flooding in the area. EuroNews said in its report that the collected rainwater will be used in a sports complex being built adjacent to the cemetery.
This also sounds like a nice way to involve the ancestors in helping deliver a greener planet for the future.