Zonnebloem: The self-protecting PV system

04/21/2021 | Print view

In Performance mode, Zonnebloem wants to amaze and showcase sustainable design in the built-up environment… - © TU Delft / Bucky Lab — © TU Delft / Bucky Lab

In Performance mode, Zonnebloem wants to amaze and showcase sustainable design in the built-up environment…

Zonnebloem is a concept for a solar facade that not only produces clean electricity to help combat climate change but is also designed to cope with some of its expected impacts. See here how it works:

In 50 years, extreme climate conditions such as hailstorms and severe winds will become commonplace, hence there is an urgent need to future-proof solar facades that are able to protect the PV panels by folding it out of the way when things get dangerous. Zonnebloem (Dutch for sun flower) is the prototype solution developed by the student team of Jun Wen Loo, Julia Ravensbergen, Eren Gozde Anil, Amy Sterrenberg, Christopher Bierach and Emilie Lodewijks of the TU Delft’s facade Master’s degree programme. It has two modes of operation - Environment and Performance.

… but when the weather gets dangerous, the system folds itself out of harms way.

Also from the 2020 Bucky Lab: A dual-axis tracking PV solar facade

In Environment mode, Zonnebloem folds up according to bad weather conditions such that its retraction system will retrct it into a closed state, protecting it before disaster strikes. With the Performance mode, Zonnebloem transforms the static facade into a performative one by displaying graphics controlled by the user. Zonnebloem aims to amaze and attract people and to showcase the integration of sustainable design into our built environment.