Designer proposes VEIL Solar Shades to help power schools

We've seen plenty of unique implementations for solar panels, but none quite like these so-called VEIL Solar Shades from designer Büro North, which block out the sun's rays just as well as they capture it. In addition to being light enough for a child to turn on a swivel (they're designed specifically for schools), the shades would apparently also boast a pattern of LED lights on their undersides, which would indicate if they're in the optimal position to gather the maximum amount of solar energy. No word as to when of if they're actually going to put to use, but the project has apparently already received some funding by the Victorian Government in Australia, and it certainly seems like it'd find plenty of appeal beyond schoolyards.

[Via Inhabitat]

[aaron @ May 26th 2008 5:26PM]

Looks like a pissed of cobra.

[brad @ May 26th 2008 5:38PM]

"take the venom out of a cobra and what do you have? a belt..."


name that quote!

[Bunson @ May 26th 2008 5:42PM]

My thoughts exactly.

[Christopher Lloyd @ May 26th 2008 6:23PM]

Ahh Solar cobra!!!

[Ayman @ May 26th 2008 5:59PM]

@brad
PRADA?

[Jhongerkong @ May 26th 2008 11:03PM]

@brad

Its quagmire

[randompass @ May 27th 2008 12:29AM]

I was oncccccee a man......

[SimbaDogg @ May 27th 2008 7:42PM]

@ randompass
i love the GI Joe - The movie quote

[Jhongerkong @ May 26th 2008 5:26PM]

It looks like giant albino cobras are gonna eat some kids.

[Asha @ May 26th 2008 10:31PM]

Everyone wins!!

[Tomheivers @ May 26th 2008 5:39PM]

I for one welcome our children-eating solar cobra overlords

[Konstantin @ May 27th 2008 2:39AM]

Yes!!! Its about time. Survival of the fittest in our school system. Better then the no child left behind thing.

[cxcitizen @ May 26th 2008 5:42PM]

looks like chips to me...

[wrabbit @ May 26th 2008 5:50PM]

Those two kinds on the left (in the blue shirts) - looks like they're sporting solar hats by same designer, intended to provide them with juice for their cellphones, or maybe they're just trying out for the same role in the school play.

[Jarhead2012 @ May 26th 2008 7:06PM]

gaaah! They're wearing tinfoil hats. THE INVASION HAS STARTED!

[Troels C @ May 26th 2008 5:52PM]

The design looks good, but the pupils are gonna climb and break them.

[S7ORM @ May 26th 2008 7:30PM]

Hrm, they might work well in Victorian private schools, but yer, something like that in a public school... with the state goverment funding it i guess it will go to state schools, but i dont think kinds will treat the spinning sun shades very nicely, maybe a new version of spin the bottle? And lets be honest, they have a very small sun pickup, you would be better to put some cheap larger shade cover up and put the solar panels on the roof!

[BigD145 @ May 26th 2008 5:53PM]

Hey, that's nice. The kids can turn them for optimal coverage. The shape makes it almost impossible for a single kid to attempt to climb on it.

[Andrew @ May 26th 2008 6:25PM]

Yes, but it'd only take two kids to get on top, which, like everything else of value, ensures it to be broken by the small ones. I mean, hell, I want to climb this thing, what makes you think my nephew won't succeed.

[Bman21212 @ May 26th 2008 7:31PM]

But why not have trees. Notice in the picture the only trees are walled off.
Brick and concrete don't create nice temperatures. Trees do.

[BigD145 @ May 26th 2008 9:25PM]

Yes, but this is one of the few alternatives to trees. Trees are on the 'dangerous' list in schoolyards. It's sad, but there you have it.

I'm not so sure that two kids could get on top. I think it'd take one more to get in any position to stay on and not just slide right off. A proctor would catch on to that very quickly. Alternatively, if you just explain what the VEIL is and what it does for the kids, I think they'll leave it alone. If they don't, they belong on the 'special' bus and should be kept on a leash.

[Jenny @ May 26th 2008 11:37PM]

Sadly, most kids now belong on your 'special bus'. They have no respect for anything.

I'm sure they'd break it. What happens if they throw that basketball on top? What if they spin it continually? What if they sit and rock it back and forth (like they do to stop signs, to loosen them for 'fun').

[Technex @ May 27th 2008 7:55AM]

I agree, kids are assholes these days, pretty much all of them. Please cobras, eat them all...

[Joe Anstine @ May 26th 2008 6:03PM]

I could see these going in at schools in the near future.

[Ayman @ May 26th 2008 6:06PM]

Bloody Hell
I had the same idea for university campus in Middle East, but the idea was much bigger and included wind power as well. but the problem was to make it look nice and efficient all i came up with was scarab insect that its wings always faced the sun

[greg @ May 26th 2008 6:13PM]

Nice idea. Wouldn't implement them at high schools tho. They would get destroyed. I wonder why the designer didn't just make them look like giant mushrooms rather than off balanced cobras.

[t3_slider @ May 26th 2008 6:41PM]

Because of the penis analogy that goes along with mushroom-shaped objects?

[Jenny @ May 26th 2008 11:39PM]

Because of the drug reference that goes with 'shrooms? Psychedelic, man.

[revbobuk @ May 26th 2008 6:18PM]

Sure would love to see one of those take off when the wind gets up - they look perfectly shaped to catch it!

[ecobore @ May 26th 2008 6:45PM]

Looks like a load of cobras to me! (you've got to be a Brit to understand that!!!) :-)

[Josh Bradshaw @ May 26th 2008 6:46PM]

Kids are vandals... nothing nice and expensive would last long

[wacallison @ May 26th 2008 7:02PM]

Electrify the surfaces. Embed some CCTV. Put in a proximity alarm system to hiss at or yell at the kids (or just catapult them off).

Seriously -- There's a lot more real estate on the roof of nearly every school in the country -- solarize where it really counts. Really...

[Technex @ May 27th 2008 7:57AM]

I agree, I give it about one day before they are broken or de-surfaced.


How about it hisses and squirts poison at them? Good idea methinks...

[whowhatme @ May 26th 2008 7:26PM]

take VEIL, rearrange the letters and what do you get? EVIL... as in evil cobras will eat your kids at school.

[brian Nesbitt @ May 26th 2008 8:23PM]

i've had it with these m*****f****** snakes on this m*****f****** playground!

[DWells55 @ May 27th 2008 12:21AM]

winnnnnnnnn

[klew @ May 26th 2008 9:05PM]

Kids would also be likely to throw stuff on the panels to block light: dirt, paint, etc.

[hwoarang27 @ May 26th 2008 9:13PM]

it looks "futuristic", but loses out alot on practicality.
it better have a really deep base else a strong wind can make it fall on top of a kid. Also, after the novelty wears off no one's gonna bother turning that. not to mention the curvy shape = extra $$ to manufacture.

Take the money and just cover the rooftop with solar cells, and call it a day. give the designer a ribbon for his efforts.

[vudean @ May 26th 2008 10:03PM]

What happened to planting TREES for shade (and the environment)?

[andres @ May 27th 2008 12:42AM]

they were cut down and replaced by solar panels for environmental reasons

[sinai @ May 26th 2008 10:11PM]

"solar panels are down today, kids, that means no class."
"we oughta fuck those things up more often!"

designers = problem solvers.
these solar panels = problem creators.

[nikster @ May 26th 2008 10:39PM]

I would love to have some in my garden, but not with this design.

The cobra shape seems to serve no purpose other than to be loud, and as such it's design without function, e.g., kitsch.

[tekdroid @ May 26th 2008 11:28PM]

seem like great targets for graffiti and related scribblings (and vandalism). Trees, people... trees.

It's not a hard concept to grasp. If you want to put solar in your schools, put them on the roof (if it isn't already made of glass or similar to let light through)

[ericdano @ May 27th 2008 1:16AM]

Coooooobrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaarararararararara

Those are really creepy.

[phanbouy @ May 27th 2008 1:55AM]

hey, there's this great solar powered shading invention i heard of! it also helps take CO2 out of the atmosphere, reduce topsoil runoff and provided wildlife habitat! it's called TREE!

[lance @ May 27th 2008 5:28AM]

I see these things being tagged within 2 hours of installation and no
solar being absorbed at all. And also branded by "name your favorite
or most hated multinational sugar drink".
Why would a school with no funding pay for that thing when they have a whole roof they could put panels on or build a canopy over the side walk so it could be beneficial when raining.
waste of cash and bulky looking to the landscape.

[DigitalSciGuy @ May 27th 2008 6:18AM]

This is one of those weirdly designed objects touted as 'art' (and trust me, as a member of the Modern Museum of Art, I can appreciate most any modern art) that will end up as a derelict buried somewhere only to be found by archaeologists several thousands of years in the future...only they will be able to determine the true significance of such devices.

[Greg @ May 27th 2008 6:31AM]

Anyone else find it odd that there are two kids there wearing paper hats for fun...maybe a couple decades ago but im pretty sure they dont do that for fun now.

[PEZ @ May 27th 2008 7:34AM]

I GOTTA SNAKE MANG

[Alex @ May 27th 2008 3:52PM]

did Destro design these?