NUDES, a Mumbai-based architecture firm has designed a solar mountain for Burning Man‘s 3,800-acre Fly Ranch in Nevada.
Fly Ranch is home to several natural hot and cold springs, geysers, hundreds of acres of wetlands, and more than 100 types of plants. The solar mountain is designed with a motive to blend in with this environment.
This solar mountain is one of the ten solar projects selected for the Burning Man Project. The solar mountain will not only be a source of clean energy, but it will be an interactive installation as well.
Conceived as a modular renewable energy infrastructure, Solar mountain is constructed from recycled timber, and clad in solar photovoltaic panels. It consists of four units…each unit measuring 30m in length and between 5m-30m in width, with a maximum height of 15m. So, this structure will also offer respite from the strong summer sun.
Each unit has 182 solar panels of 300-watt capacity, generating 1.2kWh/day. Total clean energy harvested from all these four units will be 873kWh per day or 318,645 kWh annually.
The Burning Man team partnered with Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) for a multi-disciplinary design challenge – LAGI 2020 Fly Ranch. Total ten entries were shortlisted including the Solar Mountain. All the shortlisted entries will move to the next stage of prototyping.
