Star Wars-inspired art museum from George Lucas is covered in solar glass

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, the George Lucas and Mellody Hobson-founded museum in Los Angeles, has opened with a roof made almost entirely of solar glass. Spanish company Onyx Solar supplied more than 32,000 square feet of photovoltaic glass panels for the roof, generating up to 279 kW of power at peak output. Designed by MAD Architects, the curved 300,000-square-foot building has no flat surfaces or right angles, with a green (planted) roof on one slope and the solar glass roof on the other.

The solar panels are made from high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon cells, finished in black to match the building's look, and many were custom-shaped to fit the curved roofline. An electrical contractor, Baker Electric, installed the panels using specialized mounting hardware. This kind of system is called building-integrated photovoltaics, or BIPV, where solar cells are built directly into a building material like glass or roofing, rather than added on top as separate panels.

This is a large architectural showcase project, not a residential product, so there is nothing here for a homeowner to sign up for or install. But it's a sign of where solar glass technology is headed: Onyx Solar has also installed similar systems at a former Bell Labs building in New Jersey. As these materials get more use in high-profile buildings, they may eventually become more available and affordable for smaller-scale projects, including homes.