Sunny Memories, a traveling exhibition exploring the application of dye-based solar cells, landed at the Center for Architecture during New York Design Week and runs through June 6th. Above, Laetitia Wolff of Futureflair and Nicolas Henchoz of EPFL+ECAL Lab walk us through 5 highlights.

The story begins with a partnership between designers and engineers. The EPFL+ECAL Lab is an outpost of the Swiss technology bureau Ecole Polytéchnique Fedérale de Lausanne (EPFL) that lives within the design school at ECAL. Their goal is to find ways to integrate and apply new technologies by bringing them straight to designers.

For this exhibition, the EPFL+ECAL Lab invited three other schools, the California College of the Arts (CCA), the Royal College of Art (RCA), and Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle (ENSCI), to explore a colorant-based solar cell technology invented by Michael Graetzel at EPFL a few years ago.

The cells are best explained in the show's catalog:

A colorant is poured onto ceramic powder which is heated at 400 degrees and sits between two plates of glass. A liquid conductor—an electrolyte—serves as a kind of sauce, the final ingredient in this sandwich. An electric wire is connected to the top glass, another to the lower glass and the cell is ready to work. The technique used to deposit the powder—the colorant's support—comes from screenprinting and can thus be used for refined patterns and even texts.

The results are impressive—the four schools produced work that touched all parts of daily life, from architectural pavilions to radios and horticulture. The new capabilities of the dye-based cell combined with the inventiveness of the students moved the projects away from the familiar aesthetic of the surface-applied, black and blue pholtovataic. The best part is that one-third of the projects shown are feasible now, and the rest within ten years.

Images and descriptions of several of the projects follow.

ENSCI:

Helio by Léa Longis Big time radio is back! In an era of miniaturization for electronic objects, Helio gives radio back the ability to captivate as it used to. Recalling the esthetic of tube amplifiers, the device showcases cells whose direction and colour complement each other to capture almost all of the light spectrum.

Electriflore by Alexandre Kournwsky A wall fixture to encourage plant growth: a solar energy-fed electric current circulates in the floor to help plants grow—the new solar cells, inspired by photosynthesis, are making their tribute to plants. Electriflore can be bent as needed to allow the grower to add plant food capsules. RCA:

Heliotone by Emile Rosen A study in the material integration of functions: this solar cell is actually a full radio with a touchscreen. Thanks to NXT Surface Sound, the cell vibrates and becomes the loudspeaker.

SolarTile by Jamie Tunnard These solar flagstones could well energize you with their colourful patterns. They will definitely collect a lot of energy. They can transform large, sunny public areas, are economical and offer endless graphic possibilities.

CCA:

Solarwall by Jenny Redd Solarwall is a power-producing office furniture system: space dividers for work areas. The colorant cells which are used in variable amounts for greater or less intimacy capture ambient light to produce electricity while plugs and strips are integrated in the panel's support base.

SolCool by Daniel Castro Refrigerators, an icon for civilization consume enormous energy. Solcool acts as solar energy refrigerator thanks to solar cells combined with thermal conduction. This makes the product portable and functional—independently of traditional power sources.

ECAL:

N47 by Christophe Machet and Enrique Illánez

A "fruit" bowl to recharge portable devices: the "fruit" of our daily lives, which hold all our personal data. A surprising and radical approach that gives us new perspectives. Perpendicular solar cells on the surface play on the bow;'s design-incorporated thickness.