Last week The Economist ran a piece entitled "The rise of Big Solar," reporting on the different technologies competing to make that energy source viably affordable.
The article provides a good business overview of the current state of solar, but one tech they didn't touch on is a new photosynthesis-based solar cell invented at Switzerland's Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne. Four design schools around the world (California College of the Arts, London's Royal College of Art, Switzerland's University of Art and Design Lausanne, and Paris' Ecole Nationale Superieure de Creations Industrielle) have recently explored this technology and have collaborated to mount an attendant workshop, "Sunny Memories," at CCA:
Sunny Memories combines new solar cell technologies developed in Switzerland with design thinking and object thinking from students around the world. The exhibit explores the broad new realm of technology and energy harnessed from the sun: thanks to new flexible colored surfaces, there are now endless possibilities for solar innovation at the crossroads of design, engineering, and architecture.
Over 80 students shared their vision of the future of solar energy under the guidance of top-level designers: Yves Behar, Rick Lewis, Brian Gulassa, Christoph Behling, Durell Bishop, Sam Hecht, Andree Klauser, Jorg Boner, and Jean-Francois Dingjian.
For those in the Bay Area, the reception is tonight at 6pm at CCA's Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts. Click here for more info.
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