Sioe Yao Kan, Sjoerd van Beers and Han Brezet

Delft University of Technology Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering Section Design for Sustainability program Landbergstraat 15, 2628 CE Delft, the Netherlands 31 (0)15 278 2956,

S. Y.Kan@IO. TUDelft. nl.. S. vanBeers@IO. TUDelft. nl , J. C.Brezet@IO. TUDelft. nl Keywords:

Mature Design, Photovoltaic (PV), Curved PV Surfaces, Coloured PV modules, Sustainable Products, Product Appearance, Synergy

Abstract

The appearance and the actual convenience of photovoltaic (PV) powered products is often not properly considered in sustainable product design. We undertook an endeavour to identify and chart the main factors that need to be improved in order to reduce those neglects and to stimulate a broader use of PV cells in products. Moreover this paper will stir up the discussion on mature design quality of sustainable products. The word ‘mature’ can for instance mean timeless design. Some solutions and synergetic proper novel technologies are proposed for achieving a sound integration of PV cells into products. An introduction of mature design by optimizing ergonomical aspects, appearance and product — user context relevance is given. In particular the emphasis will be on good matching of the overall design with the PV cell characteristics. The uses of curved coloured PV surfaces will be highlighted. Although the appearance of PV powered products obviously contributes towards the diffusion of such products, it still remains a point of discussion what kind of appearance is decisive in this process.

1. Introduction

Today there are quite a lot ‘PV Powered’ products, in combination with some kind of energy storage media [e. g. CET SOLAR Products and Photon Technologies; 2004]. In these PV powered products however, quite often the PV cells are just add-on units to give the product a ‘green image’. Because of this ‘just add-on’ approach, the PV cells remain foreign bodies not well-integrated into the total product design. In other words, a sub-optimal matching between the PV cells characteristics and the product user contexts. To circumvent this sub­optimal matching, in particular in designing PV powered products with aesthetics and ergonomics in mind, one should be aware of the following observations:

• Appearance and user context have become a selling point. The products have to be practical and state of the art, it has to be a product of the future, not just an ad-hoc prototype. As a direct result, people will be inclined to buy a product because it looks appealing and it is actually useful and meaningful and clearly demonstrates its added value. Not only a funny gadget.

• Mobile and wireless products have become almost a necessity in modern daily life (e. g. mobile phones, mp3 players, PDAs, notebooks). As a side effect, working with appealing products has proven to be a productivity improvement factor. More products have become equal in functionality and price but distinctive in design and image.

• Matching between product perception and user contexts becomes an issue.

An argument stated at Sustainable Product Design conferences [e. g. Sustainable Innovation Conference; 2003] is that: ‘the way to achieve sustainable innovation is by designing cool and sexy products’. This statement would overemphasize the need for trendy appearance
of products, especially in view of the actual contradiction between designing trendy, cool and sexy products and designing for sustainability. Most products that are today trendy will be outdated tomorrow ergo not sustainable.

To establish a baseline for sustainable design of PV powered products, in a recent article [Kan et al. 2004] the proper design methods of mobile and wireless products were analyzed by exploiting the possible synergy that could be gained between the links of their energy chains. The combining of all the links in an optimal manner, including the positive side effects outside the energy chain, is called SYN-Energy. In that article these side effects were mentioned to be aesthetics and ergonomics. In this paper these side effects will be analysed further by introducing the concept of ‘Mature Design of Sustainable PV powered Product’.

Mature design of sustainable products will not only distinguish itself by its appearance, convenience of use and its functionality but will also take into account the environment for the long term by being ‘timeless’. To accommodate these mature designs, some novel technologies are presented. In addition this paper will stir up the discussion on the proper appearance of sustainable products and plea for more international standardization and compatibility of interface elements such as batteries, voltages and connectors. The latter in view of reducing cost, waste and enhance interchange ability and convenience of use of electrical products in general and PV powered product in particular.