By Bartaku

PhoEf
Photons & the electric kiss
A research project exploring the essence, use and abuse of the photovoltaic effect in science, industry, technology and the arts.

PhoEf is a research project exploring the essence, use and abuse of the photovoltaic effect - the conversion of light in electrical energy - in the realms of science, industry, technology and the arts.

Although it does contain some archetypical ingredients, PhoEf is not a handbook, nor academic in its approach. PhoEf emerged from a personal, transversal flight through the interconnected worlds behind and around photovoltaics; a technology based on A.E. Becquerel's 1839 observation of the photovoltaic effect. PhoEf is embedded in a rich, multidisciplinary, historical context.

As photovoltaics illustrate the interwovenness of matter and mankind, with the elements and the cosmos, it promises to trigger a deeper understanding of the qualities, origins and movements of light. Of the Sun. PhoEf provides both sky and earthbound information, sometimes structured alongside linear vertical paths, only to make an abrupt stop. Finding junctions between intuitive text and the flowing of new (inter)connections in an attempt to reach, inspire and connect researchers, developers and artists.

As light is the primary source of energy of photovoltaic technologies, they are subject to the schizophrenia of the photon's behaviour as both wave and a particle, their multiplicities; healthy to dangerous, subtle to aggressive, absent to abundant and from invisible to tangible. Might it lead to just enough energy for an electric kiss, or to the rise of one of the Buddhas, perhaps even to the deepening of our understanding of electricity?

PhoEf url: http://libarynth.org/luminous/phoef

With the support of FoAM, independent interdisciplinary research centre (Brussels, Berlin, Amsterdam) – http://fo.am Brussels (Belgium), 2007-2008 Contact: bartaku[at]yahoo.co.uk

Summaries of results:

• The research database 080225_pv_overview.xls [56kb]
• An online version of the research database can be found at http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=prIi3ohXIM4NJ247U5hhLHw&gid=1
• PV in the arts: 'Cases' do0802_phoef-cases.pdf [4.4mb]
• An extended ”about PhoEf” [796kb]

PhoEf live:

Coming up:

→ Bite Size Lecture at FoAm, Brussels (BE), Fri July 4th, 2008. 6.30pm - 8.30pm

→ Presentation at 'The 23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference'. Feria Valencia, Valencia (SP), Sept. 1st 2008. - http://www.photovoltaic-conference.com/

Past:

→ PhoEf: The Undisclosed Poésis of the Photovoltaic Effect. Presentation & workshop at the 'Subtle Technologies Festival', Toronto (CA), May 29th - June 1st. - http://www.subtletechnologies.com/2008

→ Arts projects exploring the 'Utopia' of the Distributed Generation Model. Customized 'Phoef'- session presented at the X-med-k 'Media Ecologies Retreat', (by FoAM, nadine and okno), as a part of the xmedk series, 21-25 April 2008 - PAF, St.Erme (FR)

• About: http://www.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-nl-0804/msg00031.html
• Picts: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexdavies/sets/72157604697580621/
• http://okno.be/?id=1215

—-

After having swum to the Tori (bird perch) shrine with my youngest sister, we observed it from the Island's sand beach. Not noticing that our skin was becoming rapidly a reddish radiating heating. One year before, sudden and brutal movements of the Earth's skin had a severe impact on its inhabitants. For many Japanese looking in the mirror became an ordeal as their belief of having mastered nature and their small outstretched piece of rocky and mountainous land, collapsed together with earthquake resisting dwellings, buildings and bridges.

The sun, the mirror and the cock on it's 'Tori' play an important role in Japanese mythology. Amaterasu OmiKami is as the Sun goddess virtually the supreme deity as well as the ancestor goddess of the imperial family. There are several versions of this creator story. In the in Kojiki (712 C.E.), Amaterasu ruled over the Kami, those small beings that help everything grow. Born from the left eye of her father Izanagi, her glow helped the rice grow, made the flowers bloom. Her beauty radiated such that everyone who felt it on their skin felt beautiful themselves.

Amaterasu's brother, Susano-O was the impetuous and violent god of storm. They never really got along, but were always drawn to each other like magnets. Susano-O would often go to seek out his sister in order to bathe in her calm radiance. And when things grew stagnant, he was the only one who could get them moving again.

After feuding again with his sister, Susano-O threw a dead horse amidst Amaterasu's weaving maidens. The deities were so heavily shocked that many of them were heavily injured and some of them died. When Amaterasu heard about the incident, she was so appalled that she hid herself in a deep cavern in the center of the earth and sealed it with a huge rock. The world plunged into a cold darkness and the Kami entered a death-sleep.

The senate of 800 Gods gathered in front of the cave with the Eight-Handed mirror and curved Jewels which they hung on the sacred Sakaki tree that was located outside the cave. By means of these devices, they hoped to beguile Amaterasu into believing that there was light in the world even in spite of her absence. They started a loud party and as they hoped, Amaterasu became curious. As soon as she peeped from the mouth of the cave; the cocks began to crow, the jewels glittered, and the mirror hanging by the tree reflected her light. She thought that there must be someone or something equal to herself illuminating the world. Finally, impressed by her own beauty, she decided to stay, filling the world with light and warmth, awaking the Kami from their death-sleep…

106 Sun deities more? → http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_deity

References

• http://www.uwec.edu/philrel/shimbutsudo/amaterasu.html
• http://www.womensig.com/amaterasu/amaterasu.html
  

Bartaku, Edinburgh, September 2007

Since plants and photosynthetic bacteria lie at the base of the food pyramid, all life on earth is ultimately solar powered. The oxygen-rich surfable atmosphere of the Earth is the work of plants. It is a by-product of photosynthesis, the biological use of the Sun's energy to make molecules. 3,5 billion years ago, algae were photosynthesizing when the continents were newly formed and ungreened. These algae were the first 'autotrophs' (self feeders), making their own molecules from little more than light, water and carbon in the air. Plants and algae explain the bluegreen color of the Earth. ¹⁾

We will not address the question Why this happened but it is clear that recorded history of mankind indicates a deep understanding of the crucial impact of the Sun (light) in the form of solar deities or other supernatural fenomenon, rituals, sacrifices, calendars (Sun dials), monuments, poems, plays, music, movies etc. It might be useful to get a more personal and intimate understanding of light combined with some scientific knowledge.

The Sun, the hearth of affection and life, pours burning love on the delighted earth. Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891)

Before looking at some science based information about the Sun light and its conversion into electricity it might be interesting to introduce some Sun-awareness-building exercises to sharpen the senses like a pencil in a Planetary Pencil Pointer.

Rules: Observation only; no rationalizing, comparing nor describing. Do not look longer into the Sun than 100sec.

Recommended conditions: perform the exercises on your own in a distraction free environment. Do them repeatedly in each season in the morning, at noon, dusk and evening. Except for exercise 9, 10, 12-14 the sun does not necessarily have to be visible.

- Inti-mate

1.Close your eyes as tight as possible. Turn your head towards the spot where you observe the most light. Then gradually, very, very slowly open up your eyes. Try to keep them open as long as possible (don't try too hard) and then close them instantly and fiercely. Observe what you see.

2.Breath in and out through your nostrils at a natural pace. Observe what you smell.

3.Take out as many clothes as possible. Close your eyes and scan your body gradually, slowly from the top to the bottom. Observe the sensations on your skin.

4.Breath in through your mouth at out through your nose. Observe the sensations, the taste on your lips and in your mouth. Observe how it travels through your body. If and how it leaves it.

5.Focus on what you hear. Try to listen to the sounds of the light.

- Engaged

6. Close your eyes in a natural way and turn your head towards the spot with the highest light intensity. Wave with both hands, fingers tightly pressed, in front of your eyes in opposite directions (L-hand from left to right and back; R-hand from right to left and back). Repeat but open your fingers as far as you can. Observe.

7. Stand up, close your eyes in a natural way and turn your body towards the spot with the highest light intensity. Start rotating counterclockwise -pivot around your left foot- at a slow/moderate pace. Observe. After a couple rotations gradually slow the rotation speed down, following the natural echo of your movement. Do not stop abruptly and do not start turning in the opposite direction.

- With the help of some tools

8. Take one or more mirrors. Look for the darkest place in your immediate surrounding. Use the mirror to transport the light towards this dark spot and make it lighter.

9. Take or make an object -preferably so that it can rotate- and hang it between the wall and the sun light. Make the object and observe the wall.

10. Track the Sun movement using scotch tape and a meter. Indicate every hour the position of the shade. Measure the distance between two following marks.

- Outdoors

11. Go outside and use your meter to measure the distance from the Earth's surface to the Sun.

12. Take the train, tram or tandem on a bright day. Close your eyes in a natural way and turn your head towards the spot with the highest light intensity. Observe the back of your eyes. For this exercise it is recommended to look for a trajectory aligned with trees.

13. Take the train, tram or tandem with motorcycle helmet when the sun has just succeeded the rain. Take a seat a the sunny-side. Look through a rain drop, and another one, and… another one. Observe.

14. On a sunny day Look for a river, lake or even better a sea. Scan the water surface for the place with the highest light intensity. Focus and observe.

Note: Exercise 1-8 can be repeated with artificial light.

After the seventh SunAware exercise -hence after having seen the light, felt it, heard it, tasted and scent it, tracked it like a leaf, now thinking about it as being a nano-drop of air <.> or a hot air wave <~> in the sea of light, you have become deeply connected with the photovoltaic effect and the essence of photovoltaic cells. In fact as a human being we are to a certain extend a pv-cell as we absorb, reflect, and transform light and emit infrared radiation heat instead of electricity.

After our own observations we can take a closer -but not in depth- look at what the scientific world has to say about the light and radiation of the star called Sun.

All life on earth is ultimately solar powered and this energy is the invisible means of exchange on which all science is based. If energy is the essence of our existence than power is the extent to which useful energy is flowing. For every life form energy is needed and sufficient power to keep the flow of energy going. In the combination men, intelligence, energy, it's the source of energy, and not human inspiration that ultimately is the limiting factor for human progress. The struggle for survival in between organisms ans with others is a fight for conquering useful energy and to assure the flow of energy through these living systems. (p.51 Rifkin NL)

If you want to understand a Microcosm, attach yourself to the Macrocosm - Goethe

It all began 5 billion years ago when gravity pulled in a cloud of cosmic rubble, at the core getting denser and hotter, gas and dust fused together comets streaked towards the newborn sun. The same process is going on all across the sky. Our Sun is just one of a million stars. Stars born out of other stars.

“We drift through the universe…”; ”…pushed on by the solar winds”; “From planet to planet…” - Leonard Nimoy from the film Invasion Of The Body Snatchers

The hot surface of the Sun radiates electromagnetic energy that spans the entire spectrum. The intensity of the light is greatest in the visible portion of the spectrum and the warmth we feel on a sunny day is due to the absorption of the infrared radiation. That warmth is energy. Conventional solar power uses that energy to heat water. The photovoltaic (solar) cells convert electromagnetic energy directly into electrical energy. It does not have to be a hot day. All we need is light. Source: http://cs.sbcc.edu/physics/solar/sciencesegment

The electromagnetic (EM) spectrum is just a name that scientists give a bunch of types of radiation when they want to talk about them as a group. Radiation is energy that travels and spreads out as it goes– visible light that comes from a lamp in your house or radio waves that come from a radio station are two types of electromagnetic radiation. Other examples of EM radiation are microwaves, infrared and ultraviolet light, X-rays and gamma-rays. Hotter, more energetic objects and events create higher energy radiation than cool objects. Only extremely hot objects or particles moving at very high velocities can create high-energy radiation like X-rays and gamma-rays. More on EM: http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/emspectrum.html

Taking a closer look at the nature of the energy reaching us from our biggest and oldest source of energy, there is one very important observations (and advantage): the Sun's energy is traveling towards the Earth; it comes to us.

A ray of light consists of a stream of photons -tiny packets of light energy- moving along at around 300,000km/sec. At this speed the voyage takes only 8,5 minutes. In other words, the natural light you are seeing right now has been born 8'5 minutes ago.

Energy output

The total output of the Sun is 4x1026W. The intensity outside the Earth's atmosphere is 1367 W/m² The power reaching Earth is 1,78x1017W. (1,700 kWh/m²/year)

This is enough to: - provide for annual global energy consumption 10,000 times over. - produce an average 1,700 kWh of power annually on each square meter of land.

Planet earth is just at the right distance from the Sun but the greater the available solar resource at a given location the larger the quantity of electricity generated. Tropical regions offer a better resource than more temperate latitudes. The average irradiation in Europe is about 1,000 kWh per square meter, for example, compared with 1,800 kWh in the Middle East.

The Sun vibrates up and down, in and out, much like a pot of fudge boiling on the stove. When you make fudge, you can see large bubbles of chocolate covering the pan. And, in each of those big bubbles you can also see a set of tiny bubbles growing and popping with gusto. The Sun is the same. When you look at the following movies, you are viewing the large scale (big bubble) oscillations (the small ones would be too tiny to see). Images of the Sun via the SOHO satelite: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime-images.html

Have you ever wondered what the Sun would sound like if you could hear it? Sound won't travel through space, but with the right instrument, scientists can “hear” pulsations from the Sun. The entire Sun vibrates from a complex pattern of acoustical waves, much like a bell. If your eyes were sharp enough, you could see a bell's surface jiggle in complex patterns as the waves bounced around within it. Likewise, astronomers at Stanford University can record acoustical pressure waves in the Sun by carefully tracking movements on the Sun's surface. To do this, they use an instrument called a Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI), mounted on the SOHO spacecraft, circling the Sun 1,000,000 miles from Earth. The Sun's acoustical waves bounce from one side of the Sun to the other in about two hours, causing the Sun's surface to oscillate, or wiggle up and down. Because these sound waves travel underneath the Sun's surface, they are influenced by conditions inside the Sun. So scientists can use the oscillations to learn more about how the structure of the Sun's interior shapes its surface. The Sun's sound waves are normally at frequencies too low for the human ear to hear. To be able to hear them, the scientists sped up the waves 42,000 times – and compressed 40 days of vibrations into a few seconds. What you'll be hearing are just a few dozen of the 10 million resonances echoing inside the Sun. See: http://quake.stanford.edu/~sasha/SOUNDS/sounds.html

Links
More Sun observation practices: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/ECT/the_book/Chap1/Chapter1.html
Sun Physics by Nasa: http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun
Fusionanomaly: http://fusionanomaly.net/sun.html
Solar Folklore: http://solar-center.stanford.edu/folklore/folklore.html
Solstice: http://www.solsticeproject.org

<working on it>

Sundials

”…with the perfection of mechanical clocks, sundial design and construction have nearly become a lost art and science. Few people have seen a well-made sundial that keeps the correct time. They are rare since there are only a handful of sundial makers in the world who understand all of the math required and who are able to design and manufacture custom-made sundials.” J.L. Carmichael Jr. - http://www.sundialsculptures.com/

<working on it>

The 080225_pv_overview.xls is a multiple datasheet that consists of arts projects, research centers, companies and institutions engaging with photovoltaics. It also contains a section with DIY resources, pv-events and educational offers and media focusing on photovoltaics. As this research is addressed to the creative community special attention has been paid to the aesthetics of the technologies that are listed. The period in which the data are collected is August 2007-December 27, 2007. It is not an exhaustive overview, but merely an inventory of virtual and reel encounters on the research path. At this moment the data are presented in a rather vernacular and not-so user-friendly way. Quickest way to find what you need is searching via key word-search (<ctrl> <f>) and by sorting (<Data> <Sort>).

Refresh
Coinciding with this research project, the pv-field started vibrating and expanding more than ever before mainly due to the drastic rise of oil prices (a situation that happened before during the oil crisis in the 1970ies, but this time the investments will not be cut back or stopped as the oil peak (see glossary) is arriving soon). Almost every week new technologies, companies, mergers & take-overs, projects, experiments and PV-media emerge. As a consequence this incomplete overview is a living being that needs to be nurtured continuously in order to let it undergo its ever changing mood.

Your contribution
If you think this overview (excel sheet) can be of any use to you and/or others, you can help us to keep it up-to-date by sending a mail to info[at]fo.am we are looking at ways to present the data in a more user friendly way.

Glossary [[Resources]] — Draft_1 research report