How Portugal’s Ultra Hi-Tech Smart House Turns Like a Sunflower

Everything we know about the futuristic AI-operated self-sustainable Portuguese house that follows the sun.

Portugal remains one of the European Union countries highly dependent on outsourcing its energy supply, hence the advances in hi-tech housing solutions. In recent years, the country invested in innovation and cutting-edge technology to become more self-sustainable energy-wise.

Portugal has a high voltage network and several interconnection points with Spain to import and export electricity across the transmission grid. Besides that, the country also relies on natural gas that reaches continental Portugal by pipeline from Spain or by ship arriving at the Sines harbor facilities.

Nevertheless, the country remains highly dependent on fossil fuels and their import, for the time being, even though renewable energy sources have gained ground in recent years and are expected to become increasingly relevant.

Going Greener Instead of Nuclear

Portugal doesn’t directly rely on nuclear energy, and there’s not a single nuclear power plant on the country’s soil. The Portuguese government has closed down all coal-fired power plants and doesn’t plan to build any new refineries. Hence, the nation’s investment policy is currently directed toward clean technologies and green energy.

To this end, the government established partnerships with private technological powerhouses to break the carbon-dependency cycle via innovation. In 2020, Portugal saw a considerable increase in solar energy production as the country’s installed solar capacity expanded significantly.

We still recall the 2019 advertising campaign that featured a house inside a wind turbine tower to illustrate the self-sustainable home of the future. The dream is now a reality; however, the new infrastructure was built at sea level.

Portugal now has its first AI-operated self-sustainable house that turns toward the sun. This cutting-edge technology draws inspiration from heliotropism, the daily or seasonal motion of plant parts, namely sunflowers, in response to the direction of the Sun.

Breaking the carbon-dependency cycle

The International Energy Agency (IEA) endorses the Portuguese breakthroughs and the nation’s stance in achieving economy-wide decarbonization by investing in broad electrification and expanding the renewable electricity production grid. Portugal’s National Energy and Climate Plan focus on attaining cost-effective carbon neutrality by 2050.

Portugal lacks the traditional fossil-fuel-based natural resources; however, it is plentiful in a green energy source: sunlight. Big Tech powerhouses have realized the country’s potential to go green energy-wise and invest in developing new technology that will help the country meet the cost-effective carbon emission goals.

Building The Houses of the Future

The green energy-powered high-tech infrastructure was unveiled on July 2, 2021, in Matosinhos, Porto District. The so-called “house of the future” is linked to artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) systems, thus fully energy sustainable and also adapted to green electric mobility.

The new infrastructure is a prototype designed to be open to the public and used as a Smart Store, giving visitors a glimpse into the future of housing architecture and design.

The natural heliotropism of sunflowers inspires the revolutionary and futuristic concept. Hence the infrastructure automatically rotates to create areas of shade in the summer. During, winter the built-in AI turns the house to increase sun exposure and boost energy efficiency.

Chasing the Sun Like a Sunflower

Moreover, this brilliant piece of engineering follows the sun while producing energy through photovoltaic panels that feed the entire infrastructure. Hence, the rotation movement, all the household equipment, and technological applications are powered by green energy.

The house also comes with five ultra-fast charging stations outside, increasing mobility in Porto’s metropolitan area. Visitors will have the chance to enjoy driving experiences and charging simulations for the latest generation of electric vehicles from a well-known German motor vehicle manufacturer.

While inside, visitors will find state-of-the-art technology, namely, a wi-fi monitoring system of the consumption and energy production profile and the wall box app, which manages charging sessions and presents consumption statistics remotely.

Final Thoughts

The futuristic prototype around the conceptual house of the future marks Portugal’s environmental concerns. At the same time, this is a great visiting card for a nation that seeks to create consumption solutions that are reliable, efficient, and safe for everyone.

The brightest minds worldwide have shared their concern about the future of our planet and life on Earth.

Thus, green experiments like this “sunflower house” carry the innovation and sustainable development flag to help us all break free from our dependency on fossil fuels.

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“We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Natures inexhaustible sources of energy — sun, wind and tide. … I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.” — Thomas Edison