Masdar competition winner fuses art, energy generation

Robert Flottemesch had been daydreaming about an amazing piece of sculpture art fused with solar power generation for several years before he found a contest that could bring his vision out of his head and in front of the world.

Flottemesch and his team won the Land Art Generation Initiative in February for their Lunar Cubit. The contest, sponsored by the net-zero city of Masdar, outside of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, asked designers, artists and engineers to craft a piece of art that would be iconic and also produce electricity.

Flottemesch’s Lunar Cubit features nine pyramids made entirely of amorphous silicon solar panels—a large pyramid in the center surrounded by eight smaller ones. They collect energy from the sun throughout the day and illuminate at night to compliment lunar cycles. When the moon is full, the cubit will be dark. When the moon is dark, the cubit will be fully illuminated.

The project will generate 1.74 megawatts of solar electricity, enough to power 250 homes, Flottemesch said.

He designed the project to match the Great Pyramid of Giza and used Royal Cubits, the earliest known measurement, to size the project.

“I wanted to pay homage to that ancient form of measurement,” Flottemesch said. “I wanted to bring some of that ancient world into this modern vehicle.”

solar panel diagramMuch of the project has a deep connection between history and future.

He noted that in modern times, we measure in so many ways, using futuristic methods like the speed of sound and the speed of light.

“In that part of the world [the Middle East], forms of measurement are very visceral,” Flottemesch said. “How far you can see if you’re sitting on the back of a camel, how far you can see if you you’re standing up.”

Flottemesch was always interested in engineering. He was probably the only child who told people he wanted to be an aeronautical engineer when he grew up instead of a fireman or policeman.

But when it came time to pick a college, he was lured into an arts school he visited with a friend and ended up majoring in fine art and became a professional sculptor.

Of course, working as a professional artist is a challenge, he said.

He returned to his engineering interest six years ago when he began working with Hudson Valley Renewable Energy.

While there are opportunities to be creative in engineering solar installations, it wasn’t quite art.

“I found myself living these two lives—as an engineer and as an artist—and I had to find a way to bring them together,” Flottemesch said.

That’s when he began designing the Lunar Cubit.

Once he found out about the Masdar competition, he could kick it into full gear.
He chose amorphous silicon panels over crystalline silicon because it responds better to high temperatures like those experienced in Masdar.

The high angle of the sun there, also gave him some room to take liberties with traditional solar principles.

“As a solar engineer, the idea of facing anything north is unfathomable,” Flottemesch said. “But I had to stop thinking about it as a solar engineer. At its core, it is a piece of art.”

While four of the minor pyramids and the large center one all have one face pointed directly south, the nature of the design does face some walls of some of the pyramids away from the sun.

“By my calculations, it’s only losing about 25 percent of the generation capacity of a traditional solar farm,” Flottemesch said.

Some of the projects he designs in New York City, where he has to contend with shadowing and reflection issues, approach a 20 percent loss of potential, he said.
The pyramid shape, with the steep sides, isn’t just pretty, historical or culturally significant, he said, it’s also functional.

The steep sides will shed dust and debris so the pyramids will be better able to capture light and energy.

While Masdar sponsored the contest, and Flottemesch designed the project with that location in mind, it doesn’t have to go there, he said.

He and his team are currently looking for sponsors and investors who will make the project a reality.