HARVESTING SUNLIGHT
2022
What could an everyday life be like in a future with less reliable energy provision?
Harvesting Sunlight explores the preconditions for such an everyday and designs an example of a product that could fit into such a future. With this research I want to propose a new approach to the problem of growing electricity consumption in homes. By combining energy with aspects from natural ecosystems, Harvesting Sunlight aims to show the connection between energy and its’ sources. Participants can install Harvesting Sunlight in their city homes and document their experiences with this future scenario. By interacting with the installation on a daily basis, everyday routines are challenged, and users reflect on their relationship with the power supply.
I designed an interactive kit, which participants will install as part of the research into future use of energy. It is a speculative kit, aiming to provide the experience of living in a future scenario, when it is necessary to generate your own energy for lightning at home.
The kit will provide all materials they need to get started with growing herbs, vegetables and light within the confines of their home. Participants install the kit and use it for three days. During these days they document their experiences and afterwards more information is collected through interviews.
During this project I also attended the ‘solar lab’, which was a one week intensive workshop program as part of the solar biennale led by Marjan van Aubel, Theresa van Dongen and Emma van der Leest at the Blue city Lab in Rotterdam. During these workshops I researched the energy-captivating possibilities of papaya juice and how this could be applied to capture solar energy. From here I further explored the idea of harvesting sunlight.
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