Inspired with the shape of a sunflower petal, the Shaler-based artist David Edwards made flowery sculptures that generate solar and wind energy to power laptops, cellphones and other comparable devices. The 14-foot-tall sculptures, dubbed as Flower Power, are actually wind turbines with solar panel-covered blades. The energy generated is stored in an inbuilt battery, while the LED bulbs utilize the rest of it.
I’ve always been interested in solar and wind power, so I just started creating. I remembered a 10- or 11-year-old girl making a comment that ‘if the world worked like flowers, everything would be great.’ I decided the sculpture should be a flower and work in the same way (as nature), just with technology components.
Says David Edwards, the artist from Shaler.
The EcoFest at the Wilkins School Community Center, A Fair in the Park (in Shadyside), and some summer workshops organized by Pittsburgh’s Parks and Recreation Department have featured a 6-foot replica of this fabulous work of art. Some educational institutions have shown interest in buying the scaled-down versions offered at $8,000 and $10,000 a pop.
Via: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review