Little Moons
The purpose of this project was to explore the benefits of non-electric lighting. This exploration focused on the use of luminouse minerals cast in epoxy resin.
Luminescence
Luminescence can be achived in one of three ways. These include chemical, biological, and mineral.
Chemical
Chemiluminescence is achieved when light is produced as a result of a chemical reaction. There are several different chemical reactions that can produce light the most effective being the reactions used in glowsticks. This reaction has the benefit of being quite bright. However, the limitations of this type of luminescence are that there is a limited glow time, it can only be used once, and then there is the issue of chemical disposal when the reaction is over.
Biological
There are several types of bioluminescence these include several species of algea, fungi, bacteria and insects. All of these have the benefit of being reusable, sustainable and ecofreindly. However, these also have the distict disadvantage of a very dim glow. Many of these also only luminesce for a few seconds at a time. In addition to this intorducing a biological element requires care to sustain the living organisms involved.
Mineral
Mineral luminescence can be achieved through a multitude of materials. Each of these minerals require different conditions to produce luminescence. These minerals are comonly used in florescent lights and glow in the dark paint. For the purposes of this project the focus was placed on minerals that could be "charged" by the exposure to the sun. These minerals have the benefit of producing a relativly bright glow for an extended period of time as well as being reusable.
Initial Concepts
Key Issues
Building on the research and initial concepts I came up with I extracted the four main areas of concern in developing this lighting system. These areas are luminance, longevity, usability and environmental impact.
Luminant: This was primarily a problem in the biological explorations. many of the bioluminescent options produced very dim light and particularly with the fungal options all of the light that was produced was under the cap of the mushroom which was then absorbed by the soil. Both the mineral and the chemical faired relatively well in this category.
Long Lasting: The biological explorations once again ran into troubles in this caegory. The mushrooms produced light for the longest followed closely by the bacteria. While the algea had to be constantly agitated to produce a glow for any length of time. Both the Chemical and mineral explorations also did well in this category.
Usable: Once again the biological explorations had difficulty because they are living organisms there was a level of care required that made these solutions combersome. The mineral and chemical explorations had troubles in that nither one had the ability to be turned off.
Environmentaly Freindly: This category is where the biological explorations excelled. Natural elements made coexisting harmoniously with the environment a non issue. The mineral exploration did fairly well also however the method of suspentions proved to be an issue. the chemical solution proved particularly difficult in this category as disposing of the chemicals post reaction prooved to be rather toxic to the environment.
Ideation
From the key issues, it became clear that a mineral based luminescence would be the most beneficial for this project. After researching several different types of luminescent minerals I chose strontium aluminate. This provided the strongest glow for the longest amount of time. From there I began developing the form of the light and charging station. I chose the sphere as the form that the minerals would take. The sphere had the benefit of being portable as well as providing even sun exposure so that all sides can be charged. In order to achieve this shape, I mixed the mineral with a clear epoxy resin and cast them into glass ornaments.
Finalized Design
The finalized design I chose used woven acrylic rods to create a nest of sorts that ellegently stores and charges all of the spheres. It also allows for the user to easily access the spheres.