Solar Sculptures at the Naturwerkstatt Breisach

Over the weekend I had a chance to test out a new tinkering activity in the local forest with the Naturwerkstatt Breisach eV. and engage kids and adults in playful experiments involving solar panels, motors and lots of craft materials. The participants spent a couple hours building all sorts of beautiful kinetic sculptures that could spin, twirl and dance in this beautiful natural setting.

This activity was partly inspired by a solar mobile exhibit that I saw last week at the Technorama science center in Winterthur as well as continuing collaboration with Amos Blanton and the “Playing with the Sun” project. I share the goals of finding playful and creative ways for learners to explore their own ideas while using solar panels and other forms of alternative energy. I’ve tried several experiments with solar panels and this one felt like a bit of getting to the barebones basic elements.

I gathered together a bunch of random small solar panels that I’ve been collecting from various experiments with an output of around 3-6V. The key elements that helps make this project possible are these special solar motors that have a starting power requirement of only about 0.4V, so they can be powered a bit even with indirect sunlight.

I attached alligator clips to both components to make it easier to experiment and collected cardboard, wire, hot glue stick pieces, cups and dichroic filters to give the tinkerers lots of different possibilities.

I made a few examples including some projects that hung from branches on wires or string as well as some others that balanced on the ground.

After a quick introduction to the activity the group started right in on investigating the materials. I suggested adding a little piece of masking tape to the motor shaft to be able to see if it spun.

As learners connected the solar panels and found the right angles they also quickly noticed the “persistence of vision” effect when the fast spinning tape seemed to blend into a flower shape.

The grove of woods where the workshop took place was not in direct light as the trees were blocking much of the sun. At first I was a bit worried about this as it was tricky to find a place where the sculptures turned on but actually it seemed to be an advantage as it meant the participants had to constantly be moving around the space, seeing others projects and bringing them back together when the sunlight beams moved. This also showed how shadows/light change over time as an unintended effect. Of course the project wouldn’t have worked on a cloudy day so it’s also necessary to plan a back-up activity (or battery power) just in case.

I was really impressed by the variety of interesting experiments that the group came up with. One interesting pathway was the addition of various natural materials like a bird’s feather or acorn. I feel this could have easily been worked into the activity prompt.

Additionally there were some groups that worked on more narrative vehicles like a solar plane an an attempted car with many solar panels daisy chained together. This is another fun direction especially taking into account the “Playing with the Sun’ Ur-document that Amos wrote, referencing the lack of compelling playthings that utilized alternative and sustainable energy production.

I’m super excited to continue exploring more activities that incorporate sustainable materials and themes into the design. Figuring out how to build tinkering prompts and materials sets with solar energy offers a lot of fun possibilities. And working in the forest takes these experiments to a new level of natural connection. Hopefully I’ll have more chances to develop these green tinkering workshops in the coming months.