Outdoor lighting is an important part of our urban spaces and recreational areas, but traditional lighting solutions often require extensive excavation, cabling, and high energy consumption. At the same time, there is a growing focus on light pollution, biodiversity, and the circular use of materials.
Circular Solar-Powered Lighting is an innovation project that develops circular, solar-powered, and dark-sky-compliant lighting products for urban spaces, parks, harbor areas, and other blue-green environments. The goal is to reduce energy consumption, excavation work, material impact, and light pollution, while ensuring the solution promotes safety, well-being, and consideration for people, animals, and nature.
Solar-powered lighting with a focus on circularity
The project is developing a new type of autonomous lighting solution in which solar cells, a battery, LED optics, controls, and the luminaire housing are designed as a single integrated environmental technology solution.
Instead of grid-connected lighting that requires cabling and excavation, a modular product is being developed for use along trails, in parks, in harbor areas, and other blue-green environments. The lighting is being developed according to dark-sky principles, featuring a warm color temperature, low glare, downward-directed light distribution, and intelligent controls so that light is used only where and when it is needed. At the same time, the project is exploring bio-based and recycled materials as well as circular design principles to ensure the product can be repaired, upgraded, and reused.
Testing and Documentation of the Lighting Solution
The project is being carried out by Nordic Firefly in collaboration with DTU Electro.
The project involves the development of a solar-powered energy system, dark-sky-compliant LED optics, circular material selection, and accelerated environmental and lifespan tests. The result will be demonstrated luminaire prototypes and a validated concept for circular, nature-friendly off-grid lighting.
The project is being carried out at Risø, where DTU Electro’s laboratories and testing facilities make it possible to document service life, robustness, and performance under conditions such as UV exposure, moisture, frost, temperature cycling, and mechanical stress. Researchers from DTU Electro are contributing expertise in solar cell technology, module design, optical characterization, material stability, and accelerated lifespan testing.
Part of the Risø SME Innovation Platform
The project is one of 15 innovation projects within the Risø SME Innovation Platform, where companies and research institutions collaborate to develop and demonstrate new green technologies. The platform provides companies with access to research expertise, testing facilities, and strong innovation partnerships based at Risø.
Explore the other projects on the innovation platform
- PFASOL – PFAS in solar power plants – mapping and documentation of PFAS in solar power plants.
- OmniPFAS – flexible solutions for removing PFAS from various types of water.
- KhaosGuard – continuous monitoring of nitrous oxide emissions from wastewater treatment plants.
- RisøLith – 3D printing at the nanoscale at low temperatures.
- Circular solar-powered lighting – off-grid lighting with a focus on circularity and dark-sky principles.
- Heat-driven water-based cooling technology – utilization of excess heat for energy-efficient cooling.
- Reliable water supply – mobile solutions for producing safe drinking water.
- Searine M360 – electric propulsion system for small boats.
- Chemical plastic recycling – conversion of plastic waste into methanol.
- NanoShield – UV and nanotechnology that inhibits bacterial and algal growth on metal surfaces.
- Lab2Land – Greenlandic rock flour for carbon sequestration and soil improvement.
- 3D printing for flood protection – nature-based barriers printed directly into the landscape.
- Recycled Wind Turbines for 3D-Printed Homes – fiberglass from end-of-life wind turbines as a building material.
- Circular Plastic without Permanence – biodegradable plastic made from brewery waste.
- Circular Battery Design – battery systems designed for disassembly, repair, and reuse.
The project is part of the Risø SME Innovation Platform, which was developed as a coordinated initiative under the Investment Support Scheme for Green Innovative Technologies and is administered by Clean. The initiative is funded by REACT-EU funds administered by the Danish Board of Business Development.
