Photovoltaic Exhibit
What is the Photovoltaic Exhibit?
As part of a city-wide initiative to create a solar power infrastructure on all City-owned properties, the New York Hall of Science in collaboration with Consolidated Edison, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, Department of Citywide Administrative Services, and Department of Cultural Affairs installed a solar energy system at the New York Hall of Science and commissioned an interactive web application to educate science center visitors about solar energy. The system streams high-resolution energy, solar flux and weather data to a logging system that connects to the web application designed to display the data to visitors. I collaborated with the development team from Blue Telescope to create the application. Funding was provided by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and New York City Departments of Cultural Affairs and Citywide Service. It won the Summit International Creative Award in 2011.
The Data
The challenge of this exhibit was translating the power output of the system into palatable ideas for visitors. These included such things as how many apartments in a building could be lit up , how far a subway car could run, and how many barrels of oil could be saved. Since the power correlated directly to the amount of sunlight falling on the solar panels at any given time, there needed to be a way to look at both the instantaneous power output and the cumulative power output over time. The logging system had to provide both of these. Visitors also needed a way to correlate the weather with the amount of energy the system creates to understand the connection between the solar flux and energy. The web site (no longer active, it was written in Adobe Flash, which is no longer supported) brought these data streams together in real time and presented a kind of solar energy dashboard with playful animations that helped visitors connect solar energy with phenomena in their daily lives.
Why Am I Doing It?
Solar energy, or photovoltaic systems are an important form of renewable energy that is increasingly supplanting other forms of energy generation to power increasing demand. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, (Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), January 2024). Solar will surpass all other forms of renewables by 2025. Making consumers conscious of the benefits of renewables and the city’s initiative to install smart-roof solar technologies on all city-owned buildings helps city dwellers understand ways the City is reducing carbon and being more responsible stewards of their properties. As a science center, the New York Hall of Science is obligated to educate its visitors about such technological advancements through interactive forms of engagement.
The Smart Roof
The solar panels were installed on the roof of the New York Hall of Science’s auditorium roof in 2005 and the energy connected directly into the Hall’s electrical system through a series of inverters. It is a 16kW solar energy system with an estimated annual greenhouse gas reduction of seven metric tons, which means over its lifetime it has already reduced emissions by 133 metric tons. The Web application was hosted on the Hall’s website and was the home page on workstations in the science center’s Technology Gallery to promote visitor interest and consciousness about solar energy and how it helps create a more sustainable city