Solar Energy Kiosk
Cream on Chrome wanted to create an installation that would provide people with a better understanding of the power of solar energy. To achieve this, they designed the Solar Energy Kiosk: A kiosk that converts solar energy into orange juice. The solar panels on the roof of the kiosk transformed solar energy into electrical energy, which could be used to juice oranges whenever the battery was charged enough. A large display showed how many minutes of sunlight were used to juice your cup of orange juice.
The oranges ready to be juiced
Fresh juice powered by the sun
The Solar kiosk
Approach
The kiosk consisted of an old trailer that was remodeled to become the kiosk. Two large flexible solar panels on the roof served as the big eye-catcher. Oranges were released from a large storage container on top of the installation whenever enough sunlight was collected to juice the orange. All electronics, motors, sensors, and lights were controlled from one central circuit board. This board was designed specifically for this installation.
My responsibilities
Within this project, I was responsible for all electronics. This involved making the electronic system design, creating a custom printed circuit board, and writing the code to make everything work together. Besides the design, a lot of cabling was involved as well.
The Solar Kiosk during the 2022 Milan Design Week
Photograpy by Cream on Chrome