Have You Heard About…?

I receive email blasts from “The Architect’s Newsletter” every day. It keeps me informed of the many things happening in an industry I thought would be my life’s work. (I studied architecture and thought I would become an architect. Lighting somehow snagged me at an early age.) I also read and scan a number of subscribed emails covering houseware, design, hospitality, interiors, kitchens & baths, furniture and a few I’m not recalling right now. While consuming this information I often run across new things that could impact lighting. Here are a few items that might help you, as you think about the future of lighting.

Soli

A Mexican industrial designer has created a landscape light that is powered by soil. Milú Brunell found when insects, fungi and microorganisms/microbes break down the organic compounds in soil, they release electrons. Those electrons can be captured and converted to small electric currents. The result of her study is Soli, a prototype landscape light.

In one of the articles I read about this product, they mentioned that this idea followed in the line of a lamp, powered by photosynthesis and a server powered by tomato plants. By her own admission, the lumen output of Soli is low, as I suspect the photosynthesis lamp is as well, but remember, LED started with that dot of light on our stereo receiver in the 1970s. (If you’re young, ask your parents or grandparents to explain!) We all know what has happened since.

Powered by Sweat

I’m not talking about hitting the gym real hard. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst are harnessing sweat for the creation of electricity. They have developed a biofilm (think of a high-tech Band-Aid) that makes use of the moisture we all have on our skin. With the use of a bacteria, it converts the moisture vapor (evaporation) into electric. They see the most viable use as a method for powering wearables. Imagine if iPhones, watches or fitness monitors did not need a battery. Consider all of the healthcare monitoring equipment. All could be considerably smaller. As we grow more and more dependent upon our mobile devices, powering our home automation with sweat could be just a few steps away.

COB Building

Far from new, COB building is undergoing a resurrection lately. COB is a mixture of clay soil, sand, water and typically straw. (Think of adobe construction.) The walls of a home are “built-up”, very thick and typically get a bit narrower as they reach the top. COB building dates back to the 1600s, perhaps farther, but have had very little use until recently.

With newfound interest in a more sustainable building world, COB is getting a second look. While the current methods of use are more expensive to construct, the end result is fire-proof, termite-proof and like adobe construction, the thick walls can be better insulators than stud-fiberglass construction.

COB is also being reconsidered now because of the high cost of building materials, especially in our new reality of tariff uncertainty and sustainability demands. It is unlikely to replace current construction techniques in mass market installations, but could become a niche player that we will need to illuminate. It is time to begin asking ourselves how.

LEDs, All Day, Every Day, Everywhere?

There was a time when I thought different light sources would start to peel away layers of the LED onion. I didn’t think we would use LED for EVERYTHING. I appear to have been wrong on that account. OLED seemed so natural for office troffer lighting, backlighting and illuminated displays. LEP (Light Emitting Plasma) were so powerful that stadium lighting, large exterior parking lot lighting and shipping docks sounded like the perfect fit. Automobiles had adopted Laser lighting and it was featured on a few production cars, mostly German imports.

OLEDs, while still out there seem to have stalled in elevated development. I haven’t heard anything about LEPs in at least five years and now I read in the “Lighting Now” blog that BMW and Audi have halted laser development, essentially because of the more cost effective LED options.

Why did that occur? Is Donald Trump right to pull federal research grant dollars from universities because, at a certain point, it is self-defeating? Was money that could have helped develop LEPs used for the mature LED industry? Once LED efficacy approached 90% of its expected efficiencies, should we have transferred those dollars to OLED research? Is it possible that LED is the perfect light source and no other competitor is even close to being strong enough to overtake them? I’m doubting that conclusion. We are now rethinking the AC/DC debate that was won over a century ago. It would be a shame to abandon options. I hope someone, some place continues to investigate these alternatives.

https://www.lightnowblog.com/2025/09/interview-signify-on-commercial-indoor-lighting-trends/

There are plenty of ideas that go nowhere. This could be a collection of a few more, or one might just breakout and become the next lithium battery. Like the “Butterfly Effect” a flap of the wings here might result in a seismic change in a whole industry. Paying attention to as many as possible can only help us as we continue to move into the future.