Are there designers out there who look at solar panels as means of design rather than nuisance products which just so happen to win over MPs and greenies.
In this blog I want to touch on a couple of things an thy rant shall be done!
1. Can solar panels deliver what we need?
2. Can they look good whilst doing it?
So firstly we need to understand what we may want to use solar panels for... We know we want to make free electricity, but what is the best way to harness this power? Do we use standalone systems with batteries charging throughout the day to power the lighting at night or do we use feed-in tariffs to make some money to offset that electricity used during the night?
Let us not forget that the lowly lighting engineer gets a good deal on his electricity at the moment (well, compared with a standard household anyway!) due to the fact the electricity is used at night. The same reasons that some people use timers on electrical equipment to do their washing a 3am, because the electricity is cheaper!
So to produce it in the day and sell it back to the energy companies when demand is high seems great... we get some money, they get some energy when they need it. We can then use the electricity at night for our lights and know that they will be ok for the whole night as they have been designed.
If we take the charging up batteries idea, we have to consider two things, how much can the batteries actually power and what are they made up of. If we are looking at going green, then is putting a few kilos of lead acid into a box underground may actually not be that green. If we want to power a decent light for say, a foot path, will this run properly from the battery back up?
Lastly, the cost of laying electrical cables to some difficult locations means a standalone product is the only choice. This type of product could illuminate a dark and dodgy looking walkway or footpath with out the massive cost of laying cables and connecting to the grid.
Now, I am not suggesting one over the other at this time, because I don't know best myself truth be told... I do find it interesting that we have two clear options to investigate with pros and cons to each method.
SOLAR PANELS
So can solar panels be well designed?
Below are two options for either a standalone system or a feed in scheme, both of which appear well designed whilst still doing the job correctly.
Lets look at what is available for each of these options..
Standalone system
This picture shows a solar powered standalone system specifically designed to make the solar panels a design feature.
They look fantastic but are they achieving much? In the picture you can also pick out some overhead lighting products to fill in the darker areas I guess.
Feed in vertical panels
Using the same technology as standard solar panels, mounting them vertically along the lighting column allows them to have a smaller footprint on the overall product. These feed electricity back in the day so do not need to provide enough power for a larger lamp as required in this picture below...
A trial scheme currently in place on the M25 where all columns have an array of vertical feed-in solar panels which are not effecting the daytime look of the lighting.
SUMMARY
So, to summarise, we all need to be looking more closely at our energy consumption especially when we are designing schemes.
Are there ways of practically incorporating solar power into a lighting scheme without having an effect on the desired aesthetics of the area? Probably...
Can we use solar panels to create some kind of pay back for green energy? Yes!
Is standalone or pay back the best way of doing it? Depends! What are you trying to do?!?
Lastly, can they look sexy? Of course they can... But it might cost!
Happy energy saving,
Scott.
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