Most solar panels are treated as background hardware, at times hidden from sight. But designer Michael Jantzen puts them in the spotlight in the Solar Eclipse Pavilion. A design proposal for a large steel public art gathering place, the structure turns a highly utilitarian process of turning solar power into electricity into a spectacular show of light and heat variations.
The conversion takes place through a 7000 square foot array of photovoltaic solar cells mounted on the top of the structure. It distributes some of the electricity into the local power grid where it stands, and others power a large low energy consuming LED display screen mounted under the solar cell array.
The aptly-named Solar Eclipse Pavilion displays graphic color images of the sun through the LED display. These images shift, continually augmented by random light and heat variations recorded by sensors embedded in the surface of the solar cell array.
Moreover, electronic sounds play in the background as the images morph in color and shape. It’s a spectacular sight in the morning, but more so at night, with the morphing light a striking contrast against the darkness.
Solar Eclipse Pavilion shows prerecorded images and sound at night, and in the morning the sun takes over for real-time display manipulation. Spectators can see the spectacle unfold before their eyes while seated on built-in seats shaded by the solar arrays.
Aside from the sun images and sound, the LED display can also show any other appropriate information relative to the event taking place at the pavilion. Jantzen’s design serves as a public art and communal center, where people can gather in a positive way.
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Images courtesy of Archinect/Michael Jantzen
