Solair
Solair is a solar and ambient light powered personal fan designed for a hotter, more uncertain climate future. Grounded in Solar Punk philosophy, it asks: what would sustainable personal cooling look like?

Product Innovation, 3D Modeling (SolidWorks),
Keyshot Render & Animation, Design Research/Strategy, CMF
Course: Design Lab 2
Time frame: 14 Weeks (08.2025)
Professor: Jonathan Abarbanel

*Disclaimer: This is NOT a sponsored project and not officially affiliated with Snow Peak Company, all logos/images used for nominative, non-commercial, and demonstration purposes only as student work

The world keeps getting warmer

and

and we’re contributing to the problem

SOLARPUNK - as a Design Philosophy

*AI assisted image

Solarpunk:
a social, literary, and artistic movement that imagines technology, nature, and humanity in harmony. Solarpunk is the design philosophy for Solair’s values

Why Solarpunk Values are relevant today:

Why many people don’t adapt Solar Energy:

So, what would sustainable personal cooling look like?

Sustainable cooling products exist, but most ask users to spend more, sacrifice convenience, or commit to infrastructure they don't own

Solar adoption fails not because of performance, but because of perceived inconvenience and behavioral friction

Key Insights:

1. People increasingly value energy independence, especially as climate and policy become less stable

2. Sustainable products fail when they demand behavioral sacrifice
= convenience is non-negotiable

3. Solar and cooling products are perceived as seasonal, which limits how much people are willing to invest in them

CONCEPT IDEATION & PROTYPING

My 2 key design goals:

1. Make the product work indoors and outdoors (solving the seasonality problem)

2. Power it entirely through ambient and solar light so it never needs to be plugged in

SOLAIR

Exploded View of all parts

Functional Features

Recycled Aluminum Dial

Feedback for Use

Powerfoyle -

Renewable Power with ambient and solar light sources

Details

Indoor and Outdoor Use

Indoors - with ambient light

*AI assisted image

BENCHMARK FAN

Bill of Materials

LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS (LCA) OF BENCHMARK

PROCESS TREE OF BENCHMARK PRODUCT

IMPACT HEAT MAP

SANKEY DIAGRAM

KEY INSIGHTS

BENCHMARK VS SOLAIR

97% Decrease in CO2e/5 years of use with Solair!

The stakeholders who benefit from Solair’s design start from:

communities who are not mining for petrolium for plastic

to the end buyer but also to

the larger environment and ecosystem

Making sustainability feel inevitable rather than imposed was the hardest design constraint. If I were to continue this project, I'd prototype the Powerfoyle integration to test whether the energy output holds under real indoor conditions.

Equitable Energy through a shared Product System Service:

Solair

Solair is a personal fan powered entirely by Powerfoyle cells, usable both indoors under ambient light and outdoors in direct sun. It requires no charging cable and no dedicated solar panel; it works wherever you are

© Na Eun Choi 2026

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