Saskatchewan Cathedral stained-glass windows also generate electricity
A Toronto-based artist, Sarah Hall, working with engineer Christoff Erban, has developed artistic solar panels. No longer the rather “technical” black sheets, Ms.Hall is creating colourful designs that serve the dual purpose of capturing solar power and generating electricity while also being works of art.
Her latest work is for a church in the western Canadian city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The Cathedral of the Holy Family wanted a new set of stained glass windows and also sought a reduction in power bills.
Working on the project since 2005, Sarah Hall’s windows each measure 11 meters tall by almost 4 meters wide.
Hall’s studio said the embedded solar panels are capable of generating 2,500 kilowatt hours of power, or about 20 per cent of the electricity used per year in the average Canadian household.
Hall’s studio said the embedded solar panels are capable of generating 2,500 kilowatt hours of power, or about 20 per cent of the electricity used per year in the average Canadian household.
Ms Hall has named the project “ Lux Gloria”. She first sketched
Three full-sized drawings, which were sent to a manufacturer in Paderborn, Germany, where large sheets of glass enamels were airbrushed by hand. The glass was then tempered and over 1,000 polycrystalline solar cells were soldered in by hand, coloured silver to match the artwork and then permanently embedded.
Because it is still new technology, it has not been without its setbacks. Installed last year, many of the panels could not withstand the prairie winters and broke. They have since been repaired with modified engineering and began being re-installed last month.
Artist Sarah Hall says she hopes her artistic efforts show that solar panels need not be merely “industrial” looking and hidden away on buildings’ roofs, She hopes that be calling attention to them will create awareness of the ease of harvesting solar power.
Saskatoon-Archdiocese- showing preparation of solar windows
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