If you happen to spot a giant flower blooming at the Transfer Station, don’t worry — it’s supposed to be there.
The striking, sculpture-like structure is a SmartFlower, a solar energy system designed to turn sunlight into electricity while making renewable energy impossible to miss.
“It’s a pretty cool thing. It’s very eye-catching,” said Matt Lipsitz of Marblehead, who works for SmartFlower.
The flower, which stands about one story tall and stretches roughly 17 feet across when fully open, is temporarily on display near the Swap Shed at the Transfer Station. The demonstration unit is on loan to the town and is not currently connected to the electric grid.
The installation was coordinated with Public Health Director Andrew Petty and is intended primarily as a demonstration — a way for residents to see renewable energy technology up close rather than hidden away on a rooftop.
“It’s intended to bring awareness of renewable energy,” Lipsitz said. “Renewable energy can have an attractive and beautiful element. The SmartFlower brings joy. It also represents a commitment to renewables.”
A solar array that follows the sun
The SmartFlower looks more like a kinetic sculpture than a traditional solar array.
At sunrise, the flower automatically unfolds, with its petal-like panels spreading outward like a fan. Each petal contains solar cells made of silicon, which convert sunlight into electricity.
A tracking system then allows the flower to follow the sun across the sky throughout the day, keeping the panels positioned for optimal exposure.
That movement is one of the system’s main advantages over conventional rooftop solar panels, which remain fixed in place.
You can watch SmartFlowers in action in this video.
SmartFlower says its system can produce up to 40% more electricity than a conventional solar array of the same size, depending on location and conditions. A typical system produces between 4 and 6.5 megawatt-hours of electricity per year.
The electricity generated by the panels passes through an inverter, which converts it into usable power.
In practical terms, the system can generate enough electricity in a day to run a refrigerator for about 24 hours or an air conditioner for roughly 12 hours, depending on conditions and energy use.
More than solar power
The company behind SmartFlower moved to Boston in 2018 and has its sales and engineering operations in Massachusetts. It sells the systems around the world.
More than 2,000 SmartFlower systems have been installed worldwide, including at the Franklin Park Zoo, in Boston’s South End and downtown Boston, and in Springfield.
Major companies — including Toyota, Volkswagen and Siemens — have also installed SmartFlowers.
The company’s primary market is businesses and organizations that want to demonstrate a commitment to renewable energy.
That visibility is part of the appeal.
“It’s a great platform for promotions,” Lipsitz said, describing the SmartFlower as both a renewable energy device and a way for companies to showcase their environmental commitments.
The systems can also be customized with different colors, wraps around the base or other branding elements.
A demonstration for Marblehead
While the SmartFlower is not connected to the grid, Marblehead Municipal Light Department General Manager Jon Blair is a fan.
“The SmartFlower installation is more than a renewable energy generator; the dynamic sculpture exhibits a number of concepts spanning life science, physics and engineering (I’ll resist making any STEM puns),” Blair wrote in email to the Current. “While there are more practical and cost-effective ways to produce power, the SmartFlower is a clever and artful demonstration that can both inform and inspire.”
The town may keep the SmartFlower for another month or two, according to Lipsitz.
A SmartFlower costs about $45,000 before installation.
