About Photovoltarium
Photovoltarium is a growing collection of botanical prints made with solar cell technology by physicist Janne Halme based in Helsinki, Finland.
The prints are created on glass or polymer sheets coated with a thin layer of titanium dioxide nanoparticles — the same material used in dye-sensitized solar cells.
During the process, plants transfer their forms onto the nanoparticle layer at microscopic detail while their pigments stain the layer with natural dyes, forming a light-sensitive image that shifts in colour with the direction of illumination.
Some pieces become functioning solar cells, in which the plant pigments convert light to electrical energy in glass installations.
Other pieces appear as stars in immersive audiovisual experiences and live performances through high-quality slide projection.
All works are captured through digital photography and offered as archival quality prints — for the intriqued collectors of botanical solar imagery.
It is an invitation to deepen and express our connectedness with the living world while transitioning toward sun-powered societies.
The work begins on site
in areas planned for solar energy production,
at power plants and industrial energy facilities designed to enhance biodiversity, and
in ecosystems under pressure from our rising energy demands
— habitats in need for our attention and care.
Time spent there opens perspectives and insights that cannot be gained from scientific research or engineering alone.
Staying with the species and their ecological communities allows to look, listen, and ask.
Who is living here?
What do they need, and, prefer?
What belongs here?
How much are we allowed to take — and how can we give back?
Plants are collected sparingly and with care
Never rare species, often just a single leaf or flower so the plant can continue to thrive.
The work
is a pause for attention
— a moment to be with the species and ecological communities whose lives are shaped by industrial energy production, and
a search for ways technology and living nature might form relationships that support each other.
