Imagine what joy kids (and grownups, too) could have in a solar-powered playhouse. Thanks to Real Goods, Dwell magazine and a team of goodhearted folks, some lucky children are about to find out.

Invited by Dwell magazine to design an eco/sustainable play/climbing house, California Architect Jonathan Davis contacted Real Goods President and Founder John Schaeffer to see if Real Goods wanted to get in on the fun. The result is that Real Goods designed a 12V solar system that shades the playhouse and also charges the battery system that powers LED lighting throughout the house. Real Goods also donated four 232aH batteries and system components to the project.

Built as an educational demonstration project as well as to provide hours of amusement, the playhouse is set up so that kids can clearly understand how solar power is generated, stored and distributed throughout the house.

Named the Little e by Davis, the playhouse is on display until June at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, California. On June 6, it will be auctioned off with other unique, life-size children’s playhouses at the Dreams Happen fundraising event, and 100 percent of the proceeds will benefit Rebuilding Together Peninsula, the northern California chapter of a national nonprofit committed to improving living conditions for those in need.