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We will be installing a WindTree and SmartFlower solar generator in the Planetarium car park as demonstrators for renewable energy that incorporate aesthetic design principles.
WindTree
A WindTree is hoping to produce domestic scale electricity with a much smaller footprint than the regular wind turbines, and a shape a lot closer to natural tree designs.
Instead of a windmill design, which catches the wind from one direction only and has to turn when that direction shifts, this design is a lot more similar to the Robinson Cup Anemometer (invented at the Armagh Observatory in the 1840s!) because the ‘leaves’ (acting like cups) can catch the wind from any direction.
Furthermore, the Windtree can work also with the slighest wind breeze, whereas large windfarm need a minimum wind speed to work.
SmartFlower
A SmartFlower is looking to improve the efficiency and the visual appeal of solar panels by borrowing its ideas from sunflowers: shaped like a flower, the solar panels move to track the sun across the sky, thus maximising the energy yield.
At night, the SmartFlower has another trick up its sleeve: the panels can fold up, reducing leaf litter, dirt, and other obstructions, while being ready to unfold again the next morning.
