A new sustainable design group called SMIT (Sustainably Minded Interactive Technology) has been working on a pretty awesome little invention. Instead of mounting big-ol' solar panels on heavy rigid structures that need reinforcement and special installers, they've put the solar panels on small, flexible, durable pieces of plastic.
And then they tacked the pieces of plastic to a house. Of course, each little panel has to be individually wired to its neighbor, so that they can all produce electricity for the house. But the result is still both impressive and inexpensive. Of course, you're not going to get the kind of efficiency out of these panels that you will out of traditional monosilicon roof-mounted panels, but your investment won't be as signficant either.
The idea is that the solar cells remind passers buy of ivy leaves. They're green, they blow in the wind, they absorb photons and conver them into electrons. Really, the similarities are pretty overwhelming.
Via Inhabitat
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written by Magnulus, March 03, 2008
What I'm wondering is how much electricity does that wall of leaves generate? Enough to power a lightbulb? A computer? Two computers?
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written by weee recycling, March 03, 2008
It looks like you could put them up for summer and then pack them back in a box for winter.
If that's the case - I'm guessing people in cities won't need planning permission to stick them on walls.
Be interesting to see if the integration into the house power supply is as neat.
If that's the case - I'm guessing people in cities won't need planning permission to stick them on walls.
Be interesting to see if the integration into the house power supply is as neat.
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written by CNCMike, March 03, 2008
Read another atricle that stated
the leaves are solar cells while the wind that causes them to flutter is harvested as viable energy. The result in a hybrid energy delivery device of leafy, fluttering solar shingles that provide power via both sun and wind.
Now that would be cool. Solar cells that generate power at night as long as the wind is blowing.
the leaves are solar cells while the wind that causes them to flutter is harvested as viable energy. The result in a hybrid energy delivery device of leafy, fluttering solar shingles that provide power via both sun and wind.
Now that would be cool. Solar cells that generate power at night as long as the wind is blowing.
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written by Wade, March 09, 2008
Looks like an aesthetically pleasing idea that under-utilizes potential. When you install solar panels, you should orientate them to the sun. This is important for efficiency. The installation in the picture would be a design for the North Pole since the idea is to put the tilt of the panel to the latitude where you live. That's why they go on the roof, typically. Adjusting each one of these leaves to the correct orientation would be daunting.
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written by 672, March 10, 2008
Definitely headed in the right direction. We should be looking into efficiency as well as aesthetics. Aesthetics are a big deal when you're talking about your home. But if these things look super cool and don't produce much electricity then it's all a wash. Now if we can design these leaves to orient themselves to the sun just like real plants do then we've got something worth while.
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written by fox, March 12, 2008
This will sound corny,but the idea came to me when looking at solar panels roll out on a satilite video.Sorry about the spelling.Make a solar tree.The solar cells NASA uses are way out of my price range.If these cells are cheap enough,you could have fake trees and bushes making electricity,though not very efficiently.
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written by Celia, March 15, 2008
One way to keep birds away from one fruit trees is tinsel. From the highway, I saw an orchard filled with tinsel. The orchard was sparkly and glittery. I feel that these 'leaves' would be similar.
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written by Branko, September 29, 2008
we got these to our office as a sample and its the worst lookign thing i've ever seen, plus the efficiency is really low too
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written by ali, April 08, 2009
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