Self-powered lamp mimics sunrise and sunset in the home

The lamp generates its own energy via solar cells and includes three light settings

Spotted: Award-winning Dutch designer Marjan van Aubel has introduced a new line of home products that integrate solar power into everyday living. The first of these is the self-powered Sunne lamp: the oblong aluminium lamp has three settings, is controlled via an app and requires no power other than what it gathers itself during the day. The lamp’s integrated battery stores solar energy and is turned on and off by the app, or by tapping the top of the light itself.

Designed to hang unobtrusively in a window, the lamp’s settings are Rise, Light and Set. Light is bright enough to read with, and Rise and Set brings the natural colours of the beginning and end of a day inside. Users can dim and brighten the light, or put it at either setting at any time. The design team purposefully kept the components simple for an unfussy look. The solar cell doubles as a sensor, allowing the lamp to turn on automatically when it begins to get dark.

At its brightest, the lamp shines at 135 Lux. At Set, the level of light is 35 Lux. Battery life is 14 hours. Currently live on Kickstarter, the lamp campaign has already met its funding goal, and so the team has begun refining the design, assembly and accompanying app.

Van Aubel’s innovative approach to design has featured in Springwise multiple times before, most recently in her plastic solar panels that look like stained glass. Before that, her design for coloured glass panels capable of powering individual devices was featured. It will be interesting to see how she continues pushing forward the democratisation of alternative energy sources.

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