GreenUnite | Greener Under the Sun — IKEA Has More Solar-Powered Lamps

green education articles

eco-friendly companies

We invite you to list your business in our directory so the world can learn more about the good work you are doing. learn more

corporate sponsors

Interested in being a corporate sponsor with premium placement on our site? Contact us for more information. learn more

Would you like to be a contributor?

We're always looking for expert content contributors. Get started by submitting your article or email us with any questions wecare@greenunite.com

submit your article today!

Ford Cut CO2 Emissions 37% Per Vehicle, 47% In Total Since 2000
06/14/2013, 12:00PM ET

BMW i3 Electric Car Already Has 100,000 Reservations
06/14/2013, 11:00AM ET

Project Permit Exposes Grey Areas Of Solar Permitting
06/14/2013, 10:00AM ET

Greener Under the Sun — IKEA Has More Solar-Powered Lamps

On May 24, 2012 08:38AM ET in Clean Technology

IKEA, known for producing mass amounts of pre-cut and un-assembled Swedish furniture items, keeps trying to get greener — electric cars and chargers in its parking lots, for example, make up part of its green initiative, as do low-energy bulbs instead of standard incandescent lights and solar panels on its roofs. The company is now looking to greenify not only its own outlet stores but also help its customers easily take advantage of renewable energy.

I’m talking, of course, about the new additions to the Solvinden Summer Season collection. The word Solvinden is a portmanteau of the Swedish words for sun and wind. It’s designed by David Wahl, Ola Wihlborg, and IKEA of Sweden and each part works with no cords at all.

Powered by Sun and Wind

The Solvinden collection is an array of lamps, each of which is designed to look cute during the day (while soaking up solar energy) and then light up beautifully at night. In other words, solar-powered lamps. Each product works best when able to soak up direct sunlight, making them excellent for outdoor living (you want lamps hanging in your trees, right?) but not so good to put in that darkish corner of your kitchen.

The deco lights part of the new collection consists of a cactus, a flamingo, and a rabbit, each of which glow fluorescent at night. I’m less of a fan of these, as I’m not fond of neon signs. On the other hand, they’re pretty colorful and might be just what you want in your front yard. The hanging lamp addition is bright pink, yellow, and white — and it spins in the wind. I like that one quite a bit (seriously, how much fun would it be to hang these from trees in your front yard??). The final new item IKEA offers is a solar-powered serving bowl. Yes, you read that correctly. Put it in the light, and it will light up when it gets dark (this also seems obnoxiously fun).

Kooky and fun, or a little too weird for you? Either way, I love that IKEA is selling lights running on renewable power, but let me know what you think in the comments below the gallery.