GROW: Solar/Piezoelectric Concept Comes to MoMA
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03. 4.08
With a mission to create Sustainably Minded Interactive Technology, Brooklyn-based SMIT thoughtfully mixes a little alternative energy creation (solar and piezo) with museum-worthy design. Their first project, GROW.1 (above), sprouted from an Industrial Design Thesis project in 2005 and employs emerging technology to deliver energy.
Based around a modular brick system, .1 is composed of a small number of different parts. Each brick has 5 solar leaves which have a very flexible piezo generator at their stem; when the "leaves" flap in the breeze or soak up some sunlight, the GROW system harvests the generated juice. Though just a prototype for now, the concept showed enough promise to be selected as part of the Museum of Modern Art's Design and the Elastic Mind exhibition, on display through May 12 in New York. Meanwhile, GROW.2 -- the solar-only version -- already exists.
Manufactured by Carl Stahl Decorcable in Germany, GROW.2 is the solar-only version of the system is designed to enable plants (like ivy and other vines) to grow up the sides of buildings without causing damage to the buildings themselves. One thing we really like about .2 is that it's a totally modular system; if one of the leaves becomes damaged or falls off, it can easily be replaced. ::SMIT via ::Materialicious
More pics of GROW.1 and GROW.2 are below. See also: Solar Tree: New Street Lighting from Ross Lovegrove, Life Through Rose Colored Solar Cells and Piezoelectric Backpack Concept: Take a Walk, Charge Your Gadgets
GROW.1 at MoMA
GROW leaves shimmering in the sunlight, flapping in the breeze
Up close and personal with GROW.2
Cool.... How much do they cost and how effective are the stems?
The solar stuff probably is 5% efficient. You can figure the output from the angle it makes with the sun and figuring 1000 watts/square meter for direct full bright sun. That is to say, I figure they get about 200-300 watts for that entire building wall in full sunlight. As for the piezo action from flapping in the wind - assume some flapping frequency and amplitude, and figure after conversion from the 1000 volts or so back down to a usable level, and combining all the outputs together - 1 watt.
Well you're not exactly basing that on evidence, but that's why I asked. I don't think it would be terribly efficient unless they can connect them all in a way that works well.
It’s hard to rate efficiency without knowing precisely what they are trying to achieve. Looking at how they’ve made it, it’s probably powering an OLED system and in that case it would probably be SUPER efficient.