'The Beacon' of Light.

Shoreditch's historic 'More Light, More Power' motto is being turned on its head by an innovative low energy street lighting project commissioned by Shoreditch Trust, 'The Beacon' is the brainchild of neuroscientist and artist Beau Lotto, built in collaboration with Enzo Fiondella of Interactive Imagination and Kees van der Graaf and his team.



An installation in Shoreditch

'The Beacon' is a 6 metre tower of coloured Plexiglas, solar panels and light. The installation produces its own electricity through an array of solar panels, mounted at the top of the tower, and through innovative solar-paving-slabs, which are made from photo-voltaic cells, embedded in a mixture of recycled bottle glass and resin binder – manufactured in Hackney, from glass produced as a waste product in the borough.

During the day, 'The Beacon' is illuminated by sunlight, which at the same time charges up a bank of batteries inside the base of tower. At night, the batteries use their stored solar energy to power fluorescent tubes inside the tower. 'The Beacon' only lights up if the solar panels have converted enough energy to drive the lighting display. How long 'The Beacon' remains illuminated depends on daylight hours.


Each paving stone is made from recycled granulated bottle glass and a resin bonder. Embedded in each stone are 9 high-efficiency solar panels. Each circuit is controlled by a computer energy system that distributes the stored energy when and where it’s needed.

click on image to enlarge.