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With the ever-increasing environmental awareness, design houses and architects from around the globe are looking for new and innovative ways to give an eco friendly touch to their creations. Every other day, we get to see and hear of amazing examples of solar energy being integrated into residential, commercial and industrial applications. The efforts are on to exploit the solar power in every possible way for the benefit of Mother Nature and the human race. Some designers have even come up with creative sculptures that are designed to run on solar energy. Check out some of the best solar powered sculptures after the jump.
1. Solar tree sculpture
The office of Tourism London has made an effort to rely upon the power produced by renewable sources rather depending upon the grid electricity. For this, they have developed the world’s largest solar tree that produces around 8.6 KW of green electricity. The solar tree is 22-foot tall and is a visual landmark of London making people aware about the importance of implying clean and green sources of energy. The solar tree has a total of 27 leaves, each integrated with solar panels to generate eco friendly electricity. The entire project will produce around half of the electricity consumed in the office per year that is approximately 10,000 KWh of green power annually. This system will also eliminate about 10 tons of carbon dioxide that is added to the environment by fossil fuel power plants.
2. Heliotropis solar powered kinetic sculpture
In botanical terms, heliotropism is described as the periodic movement of the parts of plants, specifically the flowers and leaves that occur every day in stimulus to the sun. Inspired by this botanical phenomenon, Beth Deutch and Larry Rubin have designed an elegant solar powered kinetic sculpture called as ‘Heliotropis’. This beautiful 10-foot tall flower sculpture features built-in solar panels to collect the sun’s energy during the day which is used to bloom the glass petals in the morning and to power the LED, which allows the plant to stand as a light fixture at night. The kinetic solar sculpture is planted in Rumson, in the garden of the designer couple. The eco conscious designers have focused on the aesthetics of their creation by making use of solar panels in the ceramic and glass petals and have tried to aware people about the issues related to greenhouse gas emissions through their ecologic design.
3. Solar powered WARP
The WARP abbreviation for water and air recycling pad is the brainchild of Portuguese designer Vasco Pinto Alves. His concept is truly inspired from the nature. The solar tree that he has created makes use of solar energy to generate green electricity, provide shade and clean CO2 free air, just like a natural tree does. The entire tree is covered with photovoltaic panels to produce renewable electricity without harming the environment. A water collector is also retrofitted to collect and purify the rain water, which can be further supplied to households. Seasonal algae are also made to grow in the system that absorbs the environmental CO2, which clarifies air and further manufactures bio diesel. Four algae aquaria are included in a single structure. The green electricity is used to illuminate the set of LEDs at dark and also to power the electric vehicles that are parked below the solar structure.
4. Michael Jantzen’s solar sculpture
Renowned American artist and designer Michael Jantzen has created this amazing solar energy field sculpture. This eye-catching sculpture is a huge 3D desert installation that takes energy from the sun and converts it into electricity for the surrounding areas. The solar panels located in the southern side are spread over with photovoltaic film that is operated under extremely high temperature. On a clear sunny day, approximately 10,000 watts of green electricity is generated to be supplied to the local community. The visitors can sit or lie under the shade of the lower panels as they are folded out in different ways. The surrounding landscape can also be viewed by climbing up the solar energy field.
5. Solar flora
Long Beach, California based Nectar Design’s founder, Darren Saravis, has created the ‘solar flora’ by making use of aircraft aluminum and some locally produced materials. The elegant and stylish design of solar flora pays tribute to the nature’s beauty and charm. This sculpture is fully functional, generating green electricity by capturing the sun rays. The sculpture looks like a giant flower with one, two, three or four solar panels integrated on the petals. The PV panels have a tendency to generate about 1.2 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day, depending on leaf configurations. These artistic sculptures can add to the ambiance of a garden, shopping mall, museums, etc., and also provide efficient green energy to these areas.
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