The ivy found crawling up the side of buildings could some day play more than just an aesthetic role: that of energy supplier.

Melding design with technology, Sustainably Minded Interactive Technology or SMIT, the brother-and-sister start-up out of Brooklyn, N.Y., is developing a miniature solar panel system that, once interconnected, takes the form of ivy sitting on the sides of buildings.

Called GROW, the panels, which can be fitted for new and existing construction, can give off as much as 30 watts per square meter of energy with minimal intrusion to the building. A later version of the solar panels will incorporate wind technology, enabling the leaves to generate an additional charge when they flutter.

“Ivy is one of those plants that you find on a building climbing toward sunlight,” said Samuel Cochran, Chief Design Officer, & co-founder of SMIT.  “These solar panels disguise themselves on the side of a building. It’s crossing the line between technology and organic form.”

The photovoltaic panels aren’t likely to hit the market until the end of next year, but with demand for solar energy on the rise and advances in the technology that make solar panels light weight and malleable, it won’t be long before the solar panels take all sorts of unique forms. There are already peel and stick solar panels, solar tents, and foldable solar panel device charges to name a few.

“Solar panels are becoming more and more efficient,” said Cochran. “Quite a few companies are taking the lead in more efficient, cheaper versions.”

SMIT will likely look to forge alliances with flexible solar panel manufactures to get the ivy shaped panels made. In order to have wide scale adoption and for the panels to be in home improvement stores like Home Depot (HD), a goal of the start-up, making them on the cheap will be paramount.

“We are looking at it going on a number of different-sized buildings,” said Cochran. “Right now we are looking at working with architects on medium to large scale projects.” He noted the system could be installed on buildings up to 20-30 stories.

The GROW product comes at a time when interest in solar panels is on the rise. High oil prices both here and abroad are driving companies and individuals to find alternative sources of energy. According to the Clean Edge, a market research firm focused on clean technology, the market for solar panels will grow to $74 billion by 2017, up around 265% from $20.3 billion in 2007.

And even if oil prices come down in the U.S., there should still be healthy demand for SMIT’s products.

“We get calls weekly from companies in France, Italy, Great Britain, Greece and South Africa and they say they want this,” said Teresita Cochran, co-founder and CEO and Samuel Cochran's sister. “We’re confident even if gas prices come down to the point the country feels it can comfortably use cars again international marketplaces are very ready for this.”

Currently SMIT, which has been funded by angel investors and a grant from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, is in talks with architects about deploying GROW on new buildings, mainly in New York City. But the company, which was given office space at the Pratt Design Incubator for Sustainable Innovation is also looking for venture and angle funding. It recently hired David Rose, founder and former CEO of Ambient Devices, to help raise capital to fund the company’s goal of creating a whole swath of clean energy and green products whether its software to measure energy, solar ivy or solar window shades.

“The goal of the company is to produce products that provide for the environment and design community,” said CEO Cochran.