The Solar Electric Generator
The Solar Electric Generator is a design proposal for a large painted steel public art functional sculpture. The sculpture is equipped with six large curved solar panels that make electricity from the sun. Some of this electricity is sent into the local power grid for use by the local community, and some of the electricity is stored in batteries located inside of the sculpture. That electricity is used to illuminate the sculpture at night, and to power a series of twelve computer screens mounted into two sides of the sculpture. The computer screens display ever-changing images and sounds of dynamic electrical fields. These images are randomly generated by the computers, based on the amount of solar energy being absorbed by the array of curved solar panels mounted on the top of the sculpture.
The intent is to suggest that the Solar Electric Generator is capturing and storing large amounts of solar electrical energy, and that the visitors can see and hear that energy through the twelve viewing ports mounted onto the sides of the sculpture.
The aesthetics of the sculpture are inspired by, and hope to celebrate, the beauty of high technology. In addition, the hope was to create the illusion of a gigantic, futuristic, mysterious machine that has the capability of gathering and storing large amounts of energy from the sun for the good of all humanity.
The Solar Electric Generator can also be thought of as a kind of artifact from the future.
Status: Unbuilt
