IKEA starts selling totally hip SOLIG solar lighting devices
We've heard the excuse a gazillion times: "Yo, I want to go solar, but like, where do you even buy this stuff? Oh snap, 0 percent financing on a Hummer H2!" Finally, you can have a solid answer to that very quip (the first part, at least), as household megastore IKEA has begun stocking (in store; online is coming soon) a new series of solar-powered lighting supplies. The SOLIG series contains a handful of solar light sticks, orbs, garden lights, chain globes and even posts, all of which will surely brighten your outdoor patio, flower bed or Earth-friendly RV. Now, if only it were simple to relocate your life to southern Arizona in order to enjoy these more effectively...
[Via Inhabitat]
[Via Inhabitat]


















In the Netherlands too?
Ja, m'n moeder was vorige week bij Ikea in Heerlen en daar hadden ze al verschillende zonnecel/lamp produkten als deze.
Heel nieuw is het niet, ze hebben al 6 jaar dezelfde set zonnecel lampen in de tuin staan van intratuin.
(yes, my mother has been to Ikea in Heerlen last week, and there they already had a limited selection of these products/design types.
It's not very new at all regardless, they have had the same set of solar powered garden lighting from 'intratuin' for 6 years now.)
From my travels, I've noticed that Ikea pretty much keeps all the stores the same, regardless of country, except in the Swede Shop. The non-food items they sell are the same in every country.
So if someone stuck that in their....
Sorry. That was inappropriate. Sorry for the distraction
The sun doesn't shine there.
I wish gas was still $1.25/L here. It was hilarious to see all those "For Sale" signs on the windows of H2's and Suburbans.
Scew you! And move to Europe.
Aww, poor Barcode. Did I strike a nerve, yuppie shitbag?
Hey, I live in southern AZ! We have a bunch of solar-powered lights in the neighborhood, but these are pretty cool looking. Unfortunately, the winds can be pretty bad too so I hope they are either heavy or have other means of restraint.
OMG! IKEA is now on Engadget!!!
Good thing I already live in southern Arizona less than 10 miles away from an IKEA :D
Euro IKEA is selling these for 13€ for 5 lamps connected to one solar panel.
I live in AZ. A lot of my neighbors have solar lights. They are pitifully weak, and not all that useful ad their primary task (like lighting up a walkway). Hopefully these are brighter and actually useful.
mood lighting fauna is about all these are good for.
*flora
I was gonna say, you think your dog will find these soothing? :)
haha, lighting up jackrabbits & skunks in the yard. Ooh, he looks ominous!
My experience with Ikea stuff is the style is nice, but the quality is crap. I've had several pieces of Ikea furniture eventually fall apart due to low quality materials, and the Ikea under-cabinet lights I just installed nearly electrocuted me.
That's because a ton of their mass-market stuff is made in China now. Sure, there's still some nice wood and metal products that are from home country Sweden, but that's far and few between compared to 10 or so years ago.
At IKEA, like everywhere else, you get what you pay for. I've got a desk (commercial office grade) that is very solidly built, but I went for a cheap pair of drawers to put beside it. The desk could stop a truck, but the drawers would collapse in a strong wind.
The other thing that helps is putting the stuff together right in the first place. I suspect that's why a lot of people say flat packed furniture is poor quality.
IKEA does not make good quality furniture, that's the bottom line. I have one of their real wood TV stands, the priciest one they sell, and while it looks good enough, it is made from pine. Pine, of course, being probably the cheapest wood you can buy, and very soft. My shelves all have permanent dents in them just from the feet of the electronics sitting on them. And this is the *best* stuff IKEA sells.
Most of their products are made from MDF, which is a kind of particle board.
I don't even think the style of most of their products is very nice; it looks like bachelor pad apartment when you actually see it in real life, outside of their catalog or showrooms. It doesn't really project maturity and wealth. And it doesn't wear very well, which to me is what you look for in a piece of furniture. Good furniture actually looks better as it ages.
That said, I do have some IKEA furniture in my house from the various times I've needed things but haven't had money to pay for quality.
Im willing to sacrifice quality in furniture for looks, so I like IKEA. All the affordable stuff in normal furniture stores is absolutely hideous looking. When I was a kid I cared about comfort above all else, so those ugly ass recliner couches were like a dream to me, but now that Im older I have to say comfort and quality can take a back seat if it looks cool.
I used glow-in-the-dark stickers shaped like stars on my ceiling when I was 6. That kept the ikea monster at bay.
Wasn't the Ikea monster just a really fat Swede?
Now they just have a sell a product that someone will actually buy. You're almost there IKEA.
did you see the crowd in IKEA everyday?
lol.
if you've ever seen a faint yellow glow across a squirrel's face, you'd be afraid... very afraid.
god damn you, comment system.
They're not really green if you have to drive back to IKEA for the missing parts or when you throw them out after 3 weeks because they are of poor quality.
they also have a solar-powered LED desk lamp called SUNNAN
SUNNY
So far, all of the solar-powered garden/walkway lights that I have seen have been VERY weak. I've been wanting to get some, just waiting for the light output to be a little better.
This isn't about going solar as much as it is going battery. The batteries in these things have the lifespan of a gnat. If you want to go solar, then either switch utilities to one that offers such or install a real system onto your home. Hopefully one on the grid so we can avoid bringing more batteries into this world.
Best IKEA product name I've ever seen: FARTYG
I love it.
I thought the JERKER desks held that title.
Haha, I'm from Sweden and have never realized how interesting the names for IKEA products are in english. Fartyg means ship and Jerker is a common swedish name :p.
Ahh, fartyg = ship, cool! In English, it just looks like the name of a rapper with gas problems. ;)
Not to knock Arizona or anything, because its a pretty nice place. My brother lived there for about 10 years. But why do people think that you need to live in the desert to use solar energy effectively? heat != light. I live in Minnesota, which is not exactly known for our warn sunny climate. I use solar lights in several different areas of my landscaping, and they work very well for me. They charge up during the day (yes, we do get sunlight up here :), and provide adequate light at dusk and into the wee hours of the night to illuminate the immediate area surrounding them. They work all year round, even when we get sub-zero temperatures. I've had them for about 2 years, and plan to add more this year.
umm... i got two sets of these last spring. Ikea has had them for a while now...? They work really well, btw, as long as they get enough sun during the day.
glow sticks!
I live in Southern Arizona - it's not worth it.
The problem with southern Arizona is that while you can be eco-friendly with light sticks, the environmental, and monetary costs of cooling your house kind of negate this :D I say this as someone who lives in southern Arizona, plus the sun kills the plastic in a matter of months. It just dries it out then it cracks then it breaks, if you want sunny and livable, move to san diego
Why the heck would you use solar energy for a device that emits light? Won't sunlight be enough light for you in the first place?
Well, i for one, has never seen the sun shine at night, so to have something to light up dark places can come handy at times:-)
I love thses stick lights, They have great style and they work well.