Eco Factor: Window blinds generate solar electricity.
Imagine how different the world might be if we could capture sunlight and release it on demand to light the dark. As an alpha source of energy, the sun sustains nearly everything on our planet, including plants, animals and the natural resources that feed our energy needs. To avoid the byproducts of traditional energy production, we should tap into the sun’s energy much earlier in this transformation process.
A Light in the Dark is an active Venetian blind system designed by Ivan Huber that collects energy from the sun by day and releases it as needed at night. In the typical home, windows account for nearly 50 percent of the heat gain or loss depending on the season, relaying that workload to the HVAC system. The use of blinds is known to save energy — they keep buildings cool in the summer and provide insulation during the winter.
With the A Light in the Dark system, homes become more energy-efficient and the need for electric lighting at night is minimized. Photovoltaic cells on the outer surface of the blinds absorb the sun’s energy by day, storing it in a Lithium Ion battery pack. The inner surface is composed of illumination cells, each housing an LED, reflector panel and lens. When activated, the blinds emanate light — replicating the sunlight by which it was enabled.
The blinds feature a zero-clearance design — when closed the “cells” lock together with minimal gaps, as opposed to the overlap of traditional Venetian blinds, to give added insulation during the colder months. The opaque photovoltaic cells also yield a higher shading coefficient, keeping buildings cooler during the summer.
Thanks: [Ivan Huber]
