Scrap Gallery - Indio, CA
Recycled, Powder Coated Aluminum - Solar Powered LED Lights

 15’ x 4.5’ x 4.5’

Art with Sustainable Solutions: The Power to Illuminate, Educate & Inspire

Solar electricity is increasingly a powerful imperative. Taking energy from the sun and using it to power our lives is a terrific idea, but how does it work?

As a sculptor and installation artist, Morrison has a particular affinity for plants, other natural forms, and light. The sculptor has coupled her interest in the natural world with a fascination for technical and scientific advances. A unique style has evolved that reflect the artistʼs understanding of the nature, by using heavy industrial metals and laser jet cutting methods to create solar powered sculptures. By necessity, nature has solved many of the problems we are currently facing in our physical and built environments. Morrison attempts to imitate the design principles that exist in the world to create sustainable solutions with art, by mimicking the patterns and strategies found in nature.

The SunCatcher solar powered light sculpture is a powerful tool that informs the audience on the basic principles of how solar energy works. The SunCatcher is a visual display of the power and energy that’s available every day from a single solar panel’s relationship with the sun. Collecting and storing the sun’s energy throughout the day, the SunCatcher sculptures release the energy in the form of  color changing lights at night, giving the sculpture an added dimension. 

The SunCatcher sculpture educates and excites a community on the potential of repurposing resources into eco-friendly assets. The SunCatcher is a 15’H x 41/2’W x 41/2,’D free standing, self sustaining sculpture that bolt securely to the concrete. It is fabricated to house the LED lights and solar charging system as parts of the sculpture. The rooftop solar panel collects and stores the energy of the sun throughout the day and that energy is released at night illuminating the SunCatcher - giving the sculpture an an added dimension.

The rooftop Solar-tech 125W solar panel's sole function is to convert sunlight into useable energy and transfer that energy through the charge controller to the battery bank. The charge controller scales down the energy produced to the correct voltage (12v) in order to charge the batteries. The batteries store the energy until needed. The two interior 92 AH batteries run the LED floodlights for about 14 hours continuously before needing a recharge - in the event of days of overcast weather.  The LED waterproof lights installed are for long lasting life (50,000 hours/10 years) 

The SunCatcher houses a solar panel and a battery that, like plants, collects and stores the energy released from the sun. The solar panel and the battery are intimately connected - like photosynthesis in plants that is the phenomena of life and growth. Plants use the sun’s energy by converting light energy to chemical energy and storing it in the bonds of sugar, a process called photosynthesis.  Elementary science teach that there are two parts to this process.  The light reaction converts light energy to chemical energy.  This energy, harvested via the light reaction, is stored by forming the chemical ATP (adenosine triphosphate), a compound used by cells for energy storage.

The power of our sun provides the energy necessary to support all life forms: plants, animals, and humans. The sun drives our climate and our weather. In a world increasingly dependent on greater amounts of energy to fuel the needs of 7 billion people, the sun can be part of  the answer to our dependence on fossil fuels. With the SunCatcher sculpture, science, art and nature combine in a single magnificent structure that simplifies the mechanics of solar energy and demonstrates its accessibility and effectiveness to a public eager to understand how to make this alternative energy source work for them.