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The sun rises over the South Saskatchewan River.
The city of Saskatoon enjoys more hours of sunshine than any other city in Canada with an average of 2381 hours of sunshine annually.
A new Catholic Cathedral is has been built in the Diocese of Saskatoon.
The great south windows of the Cathedral of the Holy Family are designed by Canadian artist Sarah Hall.
The Glory of God and vast prairie skies both day and night are reflected in the window's design.
The windows include an array of solar cells to collect energy.
Solar cells were developed at Bell Laboratories in 1952 to keep our satellites up in space. They are used the world over to collect energy from the sun.
Recent technologies brought together glass and solar cells.
This advance has made energy gathering facades possible.
Over two thousand solar panels are installed at the Vatican where Pope Francis holds general audiences.
Approximately 2,500 kilowatt hours will be collected annually.
Sarah Hall is the first artist in North America to use this technology in her glasswork.
Sarah creates the full size drawing for the red window.
Full size drawing for the golden window.
Full size drawing for the blue-green window.
Air-brushing the glass enamels at Glasmalerei Peters, Paderborn, Germany where Sarah's work is fabricated.
First finished panel - viewed in daylight.
Glass inspected after a firing in the kiln.
Edges are cleaned and the panels transported to next stage.
Lower section of red window.
One thousand and thirteen silver solar cells are soldered by hand.
Solar cells are permanently embedded into the art glass.
Dichroic glass is laminated to the back side of the glass.
The glass is inspected pre-installation.
Fifty-four panels of solar art glass were installed in a two week period.
The largest window is thirty-seven feet high by twelve feet wide. Each panels is unique in terms of shape, size and design.
Cathedral of the Holy Family is the first in the world to incorporate solar energy collection into its stained glass - bestowing a 3-fold gift: beauty, helpfulness and preservation of world resources.
To the praise and glory of God, with warm, heartfelt thanks to our faithful community.