Solar streetlamps are gaining in popularity. It’s one of the easiest ways for a city to green up in a noticeable way. Japan is even pushing the bar by setting up streetlamps powered by both wind and solar. While it’s (relatively) easy to slap a solar panel on a streetlamp and call it a good day’s work, it’s nice to take the time to add a little style or pizzazz. Vienna, for instance, has some pretty daring sculpture-ish “trees” as streetlamps. Seriously cool stuff for an urban setting. But what if you want something a little more subtle – something that blends in? That’s where Jongoh Lee’s Invisible Streetlight comes in.

Going more along the lines of solar that mimics plants – and not just in the solar-collection sense – Lee has created a concept for solar lights that blend into tree-lined paths and sidewalks. Creating a beautiful, romantic evening setting, the lamps wind around existing branches, collect light during the day, and illuminate walkways at night. Since the lights use the trees as support, they don’t need additional poles that would just increase the urban-ness of the scene.

I’m not sure how much sunlight they’d be able to collect, being installed under trees and all, so they probably wouldn’t last long into the night. So there’s that tiny detail to address, which perhaps will be solved with the increasing efficiency of solar we’re seeing. However, the concept earned an IDEA award, and I hope that’s the first sign that these will eventually make their way on to city streets and park paths.

Via Inhabitat

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