The lamp distills seawater, recharges with salt and solar energy of the architecture student

Despite being an architect, Henry Glogau has proven he can apply both scientific and technical knowledge to his work, to create products that are not only aesthetically beautiful but also highly functional. .

1 in 3 people in the world do not have clean water to drink. This shocking statistic was released by UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019, it is likely that the past 3 years of the pandemic have only made the situation worse.

In remote areas or in underdeveloped populations, providing safe and clean water for everyone is one of the most pressing public health issues.

Henry Glogau, a Danish master of environmental architecture, was very concerned with this issue. That was after he returned from a field trip to a poor community living along the Mejillones coast in Chile.

Community of Mejillones, Chile.

Techo, a local NGO, tells Glogau that every day in Chile about 10 families will have to move to live in slums like this. Utilities there are all privatized, including drinking water. As a result, the price of water in Chile is always the highest in Latin America and becomes an expense that makes it difficult for families on a tight budget.

After what he witnessed from that trip, Glogau returned to Denmark and sought to find a solution to the problem. It is a mini skylight design, has two-in-one function, and can be installed easily inside any house.

On the one hand, the well captures solar energy, helping to turn seawater into safe drinking water. On the other hand, it is also a lamp that helps to light up the house, both during the day and at night thanks to its rechargeable battery with light and also the amount of salt it collects from seawater.

Mini skylight has a two-in-one function, which can be easily installed inside any house.

Energy is all around us, as long as we know how to capture it

One paradox that Glogau realized when visiting the Mejillones community in Chile is that it is a sunny and watery sea. But the problem is that sea water is not drinkable and people do not know how to capture solar energy other than drying clothes and drying food.

So Glogau created the device called "Solar Desalination Skylight". It is a small skylight that uses solar energy to distill seawater. Since ancient times, the heat from the sun has been used to evaporate water, helping people to collect fresh drinkable water from the sea.

"But I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel," Glogau said. His sky lantern is constructed in the shape of a bowl upside down, with water channels that have more functions than a conventional evaporator.

His sky lantern is shaped like an upside down bowl.

"The design is inspired by biomimetic surfaces, which simulate leaf veins and micro-grooves, thus improving the water's channeling to increase condensing efficiency. The results show the prototype. can produce 440ml of purified water per day and reduce salinity from 36,000ppm (parts per million) to 20ppm," Glogau said.

Increasing the efficiency of the water distillation process is one thing, on the other hand, this sky lantern also creates diffuse channels of light, helping to illuminate the whole house during the day.

"The diffused interior light creates a soothing atmosphere for the living space, where most of people's activities take place such as studying, family dining, meeting. Desalinated water is collected to create adds a dappled effect, which improves mood throughout the day," says Glogau.

This lamp can be charged with the amount of salt obtained by the distillation of seawater.

At night, there is a system of LED lights powered by solar batteries that have been absorbed during the day, and it can also be charged with the amount of salt obtained by the distillation of seawater.

"I've been looking to use both the waste salts from the evaporation process to generate energy through a reaction when they are placed in tubes containing copper and zinc. These 12 salt batteries provide 9.53 volts to the batteries. LED strip at night and charged by mini solar panel during the day," Glogau said.

Henry Glogau implemented his mini skylight design in the local Chilean community.

Together towards a sustainable future

Together with the NGO Techo, Glogau implemented its mini skylight design in the local Chilean community. The project has proven the effectiveness of this design in the real world and received positive feedback from residents.

Not stopping there, Glogau also creates many activities in Chile, such as instructing people and children to recycle daily waste such as bottles into useful items. There is a simple version of the mini sky lantern that can be created from plastic bottles.

There is a simple version of the mini sky lantern that can be created from plastic bottles.

In 2021, the Solar Desalination Skylight device was a finalist for the Lexus Design Award, a competition to empower people to create good things for the future of humanity and the planet.

"In the near future, governments around the world will increasingly face pressures from issues like climate change, privatization and resource scarcity. So we need to shape re-imagining their living environment, seeing it through the eyes of finding sustainability and self-control to survive," Glogau said.

Henry Glogau introduces the Solar Desalination Skylight project

He proves to everyone that even an architecture student can combine science and engineering knowledge to create greener, cleaner and more sustainable designs for the economy. and living environment.

"I want myself, as an architect, to continue developing my skills and thinking about how we can tackle these global challenges in the future. Think about how we are. can start to do something with the ecosystem in our surroundings."