Despite the romance and ideals of many green technologies, it’s rare that any come with designs you could actually call beautiful. The practicality of your average solar panel rules its design, whilst the amount of petitions that spring up in opposition to wind farms should tell you what most people think about the design of modern windmills.
But one German architect aims to change the face of solar power with his startling new green energy harvesting solar globes.
Currently based in Barcelona, André Broessel has invented the ß.torics system – a radical new variety of solar technology that he hopes will encourage architects to start to dream up designs that incorporate solar power in their design, rather than tack it on as an afterthought. Mr. Broessel says that ß.torics system would act as both a window and energy supply, and can be scaled up or down to fit any existing design or blueprint.
Far from being all ‘beauty’ and no ‘brains’ these innovative sphere’s design feature is the ability to track the sun across the sky. By positioning itself in relation to the sun optimally, these miraculous globes are able to concentrate light up to 10,000 times its usual strength, resulting in them being 35% more efficient than even the most modern dual-axis photovoltaic design.
Not content with that impressive statistic, though, the ß.torics system is also capable of pulling off the same trick with light from the moon. Answering the age-old solar-power-cynic’s question of “What about when it’s dark?” Broessel’s transparent spheres also effectively gather lunar energy, giving them a significant advantage over other designs.
The company set to manufacture the system says that ß.torics could become commonplace in the offices of tomorrow, providing an internal source of business energy to companies within a skyscraper or hotels and apartments in a tower block.
This is a brand new solution to an age old problem, and something that has captured our imagination at Catalyst. So definitely one to watch in the future, we’d definitely be interested to see a building with this incredible-looking solar technology incorporated!
