Last week, the Pearl Avenue Branch Library in San Jose, CA became the first municipality in the United States to install permanent public art combining photovoltaic cells and art glass.
Lynn Goodpasture's "Solar Illumination I: Evolution of Language", uses glass-embedded photovoltaic cell technology to power a suspended glass LED-illuminated lamp.
The piece incorporates a 200-watt Solar Lamp System as well as four solar windows.
Goodpasture's design was airbrushed onto float glass by airbrushing vitreous enamels in multiple layers. The photovoltaic glass was created by laminating PV cells within two layers of float glass. The art glass and photovoltaic glass were then combined into a single glass unit for the library.
Hopefully, Goodpasture's demonstration of art combined with solar power will encourage other organizations to follow suit.