Biomimetic Solar

This research explores the development of solar panels made from organic and regenerative materials through biomimetic design and DIY production methods — reimagining solar technology as an ecological, aesthetic and symbolic artefact rather than a neutral industrial device.

Energy as a field of experimentation

The climate crisis and global energy inequality are symptoms of a system that concentrates technological capacity and energy sovereignty in the hands of a minority. In response, artistic practices increasingly engage with energy infrastructures not only as objects of critique but as fields of experimentation. This project proposes that solar panels — usually treated as neutral technical devices — can be reconceptualised as cultural, aesthetic and symbolic artefacts. Through biomimetic design and the use of organic materials, the research explores how solar technologies might become decentralised, accessible and embedded within ecological and community contexts.

Biomimetics, posthumanism, ecosophy

The project draws on three main conceptual perspectives. Biomimetics offers strategies for understanding how plant morphologies optimise light capture and energy distribution through structures such as branching networks, helicoidal arrangements and fractal geometries. Posthumanist thought shifts the focus away from the human as the central agent of technological development, proposing instead hybrid ecologies where vegetal, mineral and technological systems co-evolve. Ecosophy introduces an ethical and political dimension, emphasising the interconnected relations between environmental, social and subjective ecologies.

Turing patterns — reaction & diffusion

Alan Turing's reaction–diffusion model shows how two competing substances, spreading and reacting across a surface, spontaneously organise into the spots, stripes and branching found throughout living tissue — the same morphogenetic logic this research borrows to shape light-capturing surfaces. Move the parameters, choose a preset, or click and drag on the field to seed it, and watch the pattern grow.

From plant morphology to photovoltaic device

The methodology combines artistic practice, material experimentation and ecological observation. The research begins with the documentation of plant morphologies using photography, 3D scanning and botanical references. These patterns are then translated into geometric and structural models through digital design tools and physical prototyping. Experimental solar panels are constructed using accessible and natural materials, including cellulose substrates, plant fibres, mycelium composites and mineral pigments. The prototypes function both as symbolic artefacts and as experimental photovoltaic devices, testing alternative forms of solar capture and distributed energy production.

Decentralised, accessible, embedded

The project aims to investigate how vegetal morphologies can inform alternative solar infrastructures that are decentralised, accessible and ecologically embedded. Specific objectives include identifying plant structures that maximise solar exposure, translating these patterns into artificial energy systems, developing functional prototypes using low-tech materials, and exploring open or DIY frameworks for the replication of such systems. The project also seeks to articulate a critical perspective on technocapitalist models of renewable energy that reproduce extractivist dynamics and technological dependency.

Solar as ecological and cultural artefact

Solar technologies can be reimagined as ecological and cultural artefacts rather than purely industrial devices. By integrating biomimetic design, organic materials and open technological practices, it is possible to develop solar infrastructures that are simultaneously functional, symbolic and socially empowering. These devices act not only as tools for energy generation but as pedagogical and political objects that redistribute technological knowledge and propose alternative imaginaries for ecological futures.