Copenhagen is one of Europe’s major design capitals. Every year, the Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) in Copenhagen welcomes renowned architects and engineers to submit designs that integrate renewable energy in harmony with citizens, nature and the urban environment.
This year, Argentina-based designer Santiago Muros Cortés won the design competition with his proposal for a gigantic solar energy-generating hourglass that could generate up to 7.500 MWh per year. This electricity is equivalent to the energy consumption of around 1,000 Danish homes.
The winning design looks like a simplified hourglass with solar energy running through it instead of sand.
The power generating hourglass is all set to become a major tourist attraction that will inspire people to take action against climate change.
Science behind: The project uses an arrangement of small flat mirrors that concentrate their reflection of solar energy on a tank that contains heat transfer fluid (HTF) of molten nitrate salt. The concentrated beams of solar heat generate a temperature over 600°C to heat the molten salt to store heat and produce energy even at night or during cloudy weather.
