The Interface Design chair at Bauhaus University Weimar is taking an innovative step toward sustainable digital practices by launching a solar-powered website. This new initiative draws its energy from a small balcony solar power system—known in Germany as a Balkonkraftwerk—installed on the university campus. The setup provides a limited but sufficient amount of energy to run the website during daylight hours, depending on weather conditions.
The project is not just about technology; it’s a statement. By powering the site with renewable energy, the institute aims to raise awareness about the often-overlooked environmental impact of digital infrastructure. Websites, apps, and online services consume significant amounts of electricity, much of which is still generated by fossil fuels. Through this experiment, the Interface Design Institute wants to highlight the growing energy footprint of the internet and encourage more sustainable thinking in web design.
Visitors to the site can view real-time information about its energy status—whether it is online thanks to solar power or temporarily offline due to lack of sun. This dynamic experience helps users reflect on their own digital habits and the invisible resources behind every click.
In our call on 11 July we decided this:
“Hier steht ein allgemeiner Text und dann wird per Link auf externe URL (Bison, …) verwiesen.”
My proposition is that I wait until you send the mentioned text. Or we just leave it open and Lotta creates this page with the default layout later on.