IKEA rolls out solar
Yay, ever since taking apart some of those solar-powered garden lights and semi-successfully attempting to turn them into sun jars, I’ve been really interested in solar lights. And hey look, IKEA’s Summer 2009 collection turns out to have a bunch of solar options!
In that cute Swedish Chef way IKEA has of mashing together languages, the line is called SOLIG and SUNNAN.
Interestingly enough, this appears to be the first wave of a larger IKEA move to make green technology as affordable as they’ve made somewhat flimsy modern furniture. IKEA pledged $77 million over the next five years to investments in green startups last August; the resulting products (which will focus on solar panels, alternative light sources, eco-friendly materials, energy efficiency, and water saving and purification systems) will then be sold in IKEA stores.
This is seriously neat. The major thing standing standing in the way of mainstreaming alternate forms of energy is the affordability and the perception as it being a concern mostly of people who wouldn’t dreeeeeeeeeam of buying their groceries anywhere but Whole Foods. The absolute best way to get the ball rolling is to get the tech into IKEA and Target and WalMart, and onto people’s desks.
via MoCoLoco
reply: