Though guilt is a common and effective remedy for changing wasteful behavior, it’s certainly nobody’s favorite. In order for sustainable ideas to catch on, they need to be pleasurable and desirable. Not many products consist of equal parts ecological responsibility and innovative design, but Re:Form has struck the balance. Their Energy Curtain is a window shade woven with solar-collecting and light-emitting materials that store sunlight during the day and emit it at night. By choosing how much sunlight to collect and how much to use, the curtain “acts to stimulate reflection on the trade-offs of a local, sustainable system and [help the user] evolve a relationship with their own energy behaviors over time.”
Re:Form is one of several research studios under the umbrella of Sweden’s Interactive Institute. The studio explores new technologies such as smart home interiors and interactive textiles for fashion. Prototypes from their current project, Static! are being exhibited in part at Future Design Days beginning today in Stockholm. Static! (which includes the Energy Curtain) is a design research project that uses interactive design to increase awareness of energy consumption. There are a number of other products in this collection that are as unprecedented in their technology as they are in their ability to make ecological consciousness decidedly cool. Be sure to take a look.
This is really cool, I can’t wait until they’re available for purchase.
A great idea. But it doesn’t beat solar tiling. Apparently if every building has a solar roof the world could subsist on solar energy alone and still maintain the same levels of consumption. That will require technology making solar tiles the same price as ordinary housing tiles.
How much is it going to be initially?
I would really like to buy one of these, but it seems its gonna be an other brilliant idea that will never reach the street
Good Morning:
Can you give me an idea of cost for this product?
Do you have additional solar products?
How do you choose ‘how much sunlight to collect’? I like the idea, but does this mean that in order to have sunlight collected for the night one has to have less from it during the day? (by having the curtains unfolded during the day)
Is this energy curtain for real or just an idea? Can I buy it? It would be a useful way to collect the sunlight via my conservatory while I am out all day at work. This means I could leave the curtain closed for best effect plus it would maybe keep the conservatory cool during very hot days.
It says you can determine how much of the energy is converted to light at night. It would be cool if some of the energy could be diverted to other household uses. Also, if it had the ability to transmit different colored lights, other than the red shown above, I would imagine this would be a popular product just because it looks so interesting. I know people who string Christmas lights in the houses and apartments as a decorative feature. This merely builds on that concept and uses no energy you have to pay for.
Coolness!
i think this looks like a fantastic idea, but i also agree with evan, it would be awesome if the energy could be used in the house,
hows the production of it going? its been over 12 months since its been on this site, is it in the shops yet? any ideas on price?
oh and in reply to easternlethal… i live in austrlaia, and 90% of the houses in mine and nearby suburbs dont get any sunlightduring the day, we’d be lucky to get an hour a day of direct light on the roof, so obviously it cant work in every case, but wtf is the government doing about greenpower??? well… johnny howard says cutting coal will destroy the economy,,, either that or destroy the planet?