British design firm Samuel Wilkinson Studio has collaborated with American start-up company Solar Forma Design to create a prototype of a tree-shaped structure that captures solar energy and provides shade during the day, while offering a well-lit shelter at night.

Named E-Cacia, the structure bases its design on the acacia tree that typically grows on the southern and eastern African savannas and uses its large umbrella-like canopy of leaves to capture the maximum amount of sunlight.

The umbrella dome of the E-Cacia takes inspiration from nature to harvest solar energy using 708 solar cells embedded into the roof of the structure. With a span of about 6.7 metres, the timber-lined roof provides a shaded shelter during the day, while 4 programmable LED lamps concealed within its ‘branches’ offer lighting at night powered by the harvested solar energy. The canopy is supported by a steel ‘trunk’.

Providing shade, light, and energy year-round, and well-suited to both grid and standalone installations, the E-Cacia is versatile in application and is especially ideal for public spaces.

Solar Forma Design, which describes itself as ‘a place-conscious renewable energy product developer that pairs the talents of artists and designers with leading solar technologies’, says that the E-Cacia fosters placemaking environments both day and night, with the company’s scalable storage systems easily supporting a single solar tree or a grove through site-specific generation and storage systems.

Available in two heights – 6.7 metres or 5.2 metres – the solar trees can be easily installed in existing outdoor spaces or included in new landscape plans in urban, suburban, or rural environments. The irregular nonagonal structures have minimal ground level impact, generate large amounts of clean, renewable electricity, and can be installed in a single day.

These shelters are able to generate energy to light up local street furniture, kiosks and other public amenities, and can also be adapted to set up new charge points for electric vehicles, says Samuel Wilkinson Studio.

Future plans include integrating a misting system to provide a cool shelter during the hot summer days.

Images: Samuel Wilkinson Studio/ Solar Forma