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This solar pavilion is an example of a tensile design that uses woven fabric as a structural skin. Fabric structures can span up to 150 feet covering large areas of space for commercial, industrial, residential, and agricultural use. Tents are among the oldest forms of shelter. Portable and adaptable, they offer protection from the elements. This pavilion also provides shade and shelter, but unlike other tents, it actively captures sunlight and transforms it into power. Architect Nicholas Goldsmith designed this structure for Under the Sun to demonstrate how a tensile structure can be used to generate energy by using photovoltaic technology and newly-engineered materials as both surface and structure.
The pavilion is oriented due south to maximize its exposure to sunlight, capturing all the energy its soaring form can gather. The tent skin consists of amorphous silicon, thin film photovoltaic modules, just .005 inches thick, encapsulated and laminated to contoured panels of woven fabric.The photovoltaic fabric panels were assembled and interconnected to construct the solar pavilion.
Additional features:
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Solar pavilion, 1998
Design: Nicholas Goldsmith, FAIA, FTL Happold Architects + Engineers
Electrical engineer: Jordan Fox, P.E., Syska & Hennessy
Photovoltaics: Frank R. Jeffrey, Ph.D., Iowa Thin Film Technologies, Inc.
Fabricator: Birdair, Inc.
Soltis® shade cloth: Ferrari/France
Photovoltaic modules: Iowa Thin Film Technologies, Inc.
Photocap® solar cell encapsulant: Specialized Technology Resources, Inc. (STR)
Tefzel® ETFE film: DuPont High Performance Films
Kevlar® Brand Aramid Fiber: DuPont Advanced Fibers Systems
Installation photo: Claudia Bernheim
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