This is a rather futuristic take on interior design, where blinds unite with electrical appliances, and draw on the power of renewable energy to light up our lives.
This Vertical blind works by harnessing the power of the sun’s energy to illuminate an incredibly modern take on a lamp or ceiling light. When the light is ‘off’ all you see is a shaded silhouette, a lot like a shadow on the closed blinds. But when the blind is switched on – you have a glowing apparition that delivers light to your room.
This blind, known as a Solar Vertical Lamp was designed by Yoon-Hui Kim and Eun-Kyung Kim. The back of the fabric is embedded with a set of special mini photovoltaic cells which once charged by the sun, power LED pixels in the wonderful shapes shown.
UK residents will have already realised a rather large flaw in the design for climates with less than sunny skies, and that is that it A: requires the sun to be shining, and B: needs the blinds to be closed to charge when it is a sunny day. Based on the recent meteorological events, I cannot imagine deciding to shut out the sun should it ever appear again!
Although the design may well be more suited to sun drenched parts of the world, we imagine that it could still work in cloudier countries, provided that the blinds are partially open to catch any sun available to charge the back of the blind. Either way, it is a great idea, and would suitably impress guests at a dinner party!