olafur eliasson: little sun solar powered lantern

icelandic artist olafur eliasson has developed ‘little sun’, a small solar-powered lantern, in collaboration with entrepreneur frederik ottesen. presented as part of the world economic forum, which is designed to bring forth proposals in how art can participate in creating world change,  the hand-sized device has been made to improve access to light and electricity to those living in small, rural communities in africa which are not built on an electric grid. the ‘little sun’ initiative provides an affordable, off-the-grid alternative to lighting for more than 2.5 million people in africa, who have an income of less than two dollars a day. eliasson also plans to expand his research into a few more solar products including a cell phone charger and radio.

update (7/12/12): for london 2012 festival in honour of the summer olympics, olafur eliasson brings his solar-powered ‘little sun’ lamps to the tate modern, where visitors can use the devices to explore the museum on select saturdays afterhours, with all the building’s lights turned off. find out more.

olafur eliasson and frederick ottesen
‘little sun’, 2012
(above) detail of an image © merklit mersha, 2012
(main) image © mihret kebede, 2012

‘little sun’, solar-powered lamp, presented as part of the world economic forum
photo by merklit mersha
© frederik ottesen and olafur eliasson

olafur eliasson and frederick ottesen
‘little sun’, 2012
image © michael tsegaye, 2012

being used for business purposes – illuminating a shop
photo by terhas berhe
© frederik ottesen and olafur eliasson

possible scenario for use of ‘little sun’
photo by olafur eliasson
© frederik ottesen and olafur eliasson

‘little sun’ by olafur eliasson and frederik ottesen
photo by olafur eliasson
© frederik ottesen and olafur eliasson

the device is hung within a family home to illuminate the dining area
photo by helen zeru
© frederik ottesen and olafur eliasson

powering the device during daylight hours
photo by olafur eliasson
© frederik ottesen and olafur eliasson

the device takes on the shape the yellow, circular form of a sun
photo by maddalena valeri
© frederik ottesen and olafur eliasson

‘little sun’ adds a burst of color to a shop stand while gaining energy for later use
photo bydesta madere
© frederik ottesen and olafur eliasson