Creative Spotlight
This is an example of Pure Creativity. Driving to a conference in Royal Oak, Michigan, a popular, suburban Detroit city, I passed a solar farm being built in rural White Lake, Michigan. I thought, "Cool... but ugly!" How would I do it then?
Upon driving into Royal Oak, I was looking around, noting all the things solar power panels might be useful for, and there are a lot of possibilities. Street lights and traffic signals. Park and public space lighting. Interactive kiosks. However, imaging how these ugly panels would be scars on this great urban landscape. So what might be the solution?
Sitting in the conference doodling listening to the speakers, I thought about how nature elegantly handles the problem—by alternating leaves on a stem to allow the greatest amount of light and casting the least amount of shadows on all the leaves. Stacking on stems also allows the least footprint. The next day I illustrated the idea (shown above).
In a city like Royal Oak, a plant design offers a more natural aestheic for both public places and personal spaces. This design can be scaled from patio pot size for apartments, condos and other limited spaces, to windmill size. This design clustered also offers more real estate efficiency for solar farms than rows of solar panels.
