Some POS chains like Avalanche have nodes that can run on little more than an RPI.
https://docs.fuel.sh/v1.1.0/Future%20Roadmap/Planned%20Featu...
It is currently the most visible part because most of the protocol's features are still under development.
But the Avalanche protocol itself isn't tied to the EVM or Solidity, it is designed to let you run any customized blockchain.