A new concept design by Lee Ju Won is the ultimate middle man. It sticks to a window to harness the power of the sun to run LEDs that provide light to potted plants that sit under it. Um, what's wrong with this picture?
Yanko writes, "The urban landscape makes it difficult for us humans to experience the bliss of natural sunlight at home, thanks to the towering high-rises. So how can we expect our houseplants to flourish or pamper them with the natural goodness of sun? Unless of course, we get sneaky and trap some solar power in the "Solight" and then hood it over the plant; trick it into thinking it's getting some natural sunshine! Clever idea and no one will know how you manage to keep those plants happy...because you can stash the Solight away when not required!"
Wait.... If you can get enough sunlight from a window to charge a battery, the the plant you place in that window can get enough sunlight to grow. Could you not just skip this step and place the plant in the window instead?
Or say the light coming in is too weak so you'd want the extra light from the LEDs... But then the light would also be so weak that it'd take days to get enough charge to run grow lights for a few hours.
Something about this design just doesn't add up. With the amount of embodied energy in a product like this, anyone with a green thumb and a green mind would be better off just setting their plants on a table under the window, or crafting a window box on the sill.
The Solight is a good example of how solar power can be put in some very odd places.
