By Gregoire Lory & Diego Giuliani
Each year, millions of tourists from around the world visit Pompeii. They admire the southern Italian city's frescoes and archaeological ruins, but few will likely ever notice the solar panels installed on the roof of the ancient Roman Villa of the Mysteries.
On one side, "it looks just like an ancient Roman tile. But if we look at it from behind, we can see that it is actually a small photovoltaic panel," explained Gabriel Zuchtriegel, Pompeii Archaeological Park Director.
"It generates electricity to illuminate this villa, and a large share of the energy needed here comes directly from the roof installation," he added.
While Pompeii is considering extending this solution to other areas of its archaeological park that are far from the electricity grid, the Portuguese city of Évora, has also adopted similar technologies, avoiding the harsh visual impact of conventional black solar panels. On the rooftop of the City Hall, some shingles are slightly clearer.
