The Solar Spark Lamp Visualizes Energy Use
by Jorge Chapa, 09/15/08
What if measuring your entire home’s energy consumption was as simple as flicking on a light switch? That’s the idea behind Beverly Ng’s Spark Lamp, a solar-powered device that offers an ingenious approach to household energy monitoring. The sprout-like LED lamp changes color depending on the amount of power that your home has used during the month, providing an easy-to-understand visual cue to conserve more energy.
As part of Sweden’s efforts to control their energy consumption, the government recently decreed that all future houses must be equipped with a meter that allows households to monitor their energy consumption via the internet. Created in response to this legislation, the Spark Lamp aims to make that information easily accessible in a visual manner.
Conceived by Beverly Ng, the Spark Lamp is incredibly simple. During the day, the lamp is flipped upside down and placed next to the window to recharge. At night, the lamp is turned upright and switched on. At this point it establishes a wifi connection to the Internet and displays your home’s energy consumption by giving a soft green, yellow, or reddish glow for around three seconds. After a moment of eco-illumination, the light then turns white and works just like a regular lamp. Providing access to information is an important step in increasing energy efficiency, and we love Beverly’s elegant solution to the issue.
Via DesignZen
very cool