Blinded by the light

Here's something you don't hear about every day: Solar-powered, air conditioning window blinds. Yep, you read that right. Scroll down for more ...

Mon, Oct 19 2009 at 10:07 PM EST

Minjoo Kwan's probably-won't-be found-at-your-local-Home Depot-anytime-soon design concept, the Blind Air Conditioner, is exactly as described: a solar-powered AC unit that's also a set of window blinds. On a hot and sunny day when the blinds are drawn, solar panels built into the top of the blinds power a built-in air conditioning unit. Cool. Kwan, who apparently likes a good breeze, explains further:

Imagine a cool breeze blowing from your window! ‘Blind Air Conditioner’ is an innovative air conditioner that can also function as a blind. ‘Blind Air Conditioner’ is installed on the window itself like a blind, thereby emphasizing the image of a window on a breezing morning. ‘Blind Air Conditioner’ challenges the old design by combining the functionality of both an air conditioner as well as a foldable blind.

I absolutely love the idea of marrying solar power with air conditioning but I’m still unsure of how this would actually function as a proper air conditioner. Because of condensation, won’t it make a drippy, wet mess like standard window AC units, and furthermore, where will the water drip since there is not an outside component to the device? Will the built-in solar panels be powerful enough to provide enough juice to an energy-guzzling appliance like an AC unit? Can you really raise and lower hefty techno-blinds with built-in solar panels and air conditioning capabilities? Isn’t this more of a souped-up bladeless fan?

Hmmph. I’d like to think something like the Blind Air Conditioner would be possible in the not-so-distant future but there needs to be a few functionality kinks worked out if this concept reaches a second phase. When next summer hits and my own electric bills skyrocket, I'm going to certainly dream of cool, solar-powered breezes.