Rough sketch for a solar powered chapel

A couple of weeks ago a visitor from Konarka came to speak to our Design Frontiers in Biology and Materiality class about their flexible and printable solar panels. The panels are extremely thin, bendable, and semi-transparent. They can be printed in different colors and patterns. I worked with Jill Haeffle and Elizabeth Fuller to develop a proposal for the use of the panels as a stained glass analog. Elizabeth focused on leveraging the classic form of the rose window to accommodate the patterning and wiring needed to draw power from the panels. Jill developed a plan for an allegorical image for a science center or museum, and I sketched out a plan for a memorial or nondenominational chapel. I proposed a tessellated pattern based on Penrose tiling for the window, and an array of LED lighting inside the building. A soft light would shine through the solar window during daylight hours (similar to the light through a traditional stained glass window), but enough energy could be drawn and stored from the solar panels to power soft lighting indoors throughout the evening, as well. Take a look at our slides or read a summary of the project on Elizabeth’s blog.