Electricity is being produced at the archaeological site using new invisible technology, which will also be utilized for other historic structures in Italy, Portugal, and Croatia.
In order to preserve the sustainability of the archaeological site and reduce expenditures, invisible solar panels have been installed on the ancient Roman remains at Pompeii. The thermopolium, a Roman snack bar, and the House of the Vettii, which recently reopened after 20 years of restoration work, all have the cutting-edge panels installed, which blend into the background by mimicking old materials.
Although they supply the energy required to illuminate the frescoes, they look exactly like the clay tiles used by the Romans "According to a news release from the director of the Pompeii archaeological park, Gabriel Zuchtriegel.
Due to Pompeii's scale, energy costs are high, and traditional ways of supplying power across the site can endanger its aesthetic appeal. Three and a half million visitors per year explore the extensive remains of the ancient Roman city, which was buried by Mount Vesuvius' eruption in 79AD.
The new technology will help the archaeological site to reduce energy costs and make it more enjoyable, says Zuchtriegel. "Pompeii is an ancient city which in some spots is fully preserved," he says. "We could either choose to respect it and save millions of euros or keep consuming energy, leaving poles and cables around and disfiguring the landscape."
According to Elisabetta Quagliato of Dyaqua, the invisible solar panels, or conventional PV tiles as they are officially known, may be made to seem like stone, wood, concrete, or brick and can therefore be concealed on walls, floors, as well as on roofs.
"We are an archaeological site, but we also aim to serve as a live demonstration of sustainability and the value of intangible cultural assets, according to Zuchtriegel. "Our initiative is more than just lip service. We wish to tell the world that cultural heritage can be maintained differently and more sustainably through the one million visitors we get each year.
The Italian town of Vicoforte, Rome's Maxxi National Museum of 21st Century Art, the Portuguese cities of Evora and Split, and other locations are already using or soon will be using invisible solar technology.
The utilization of these panels in Pompeii recently is just the beginning, according to Zuchtriegel. "From now, all future remodeling and restoration projects will take this option into consideration."