Climate Tech News

Solar-powered lamp and charger. There are more than two billion people across the world without access to an electrical grid. In these areas, access to solar powered lamps makes it possible for people to study, work and socialise outside daylight hours, hugely improving the quality of many lives.

The solar lamp is powered by a small solar panel connected to it. As well as providing light, power from this solar panels can be used to charge mobile phones and other electronic devices.

The solar lamp is an economical and convenient source of clean energy in rural communities.

Moreover, households using solar rather than kerosene lamps are able to avoid the damage that kerosene can do to the health.

Women in particular often suffer from kerosene-related health issues, such as damage to the lungs, due to spending much of their time over kerosene stoves in enclosed spaces. Using solar energy also avoids the significant risk of fire which kerosene lamps can pose.

Once purchased, this kit costs little to run, making it a very efficient option for many people living in the world’s poorest countries. Low interest loan schemes, created to aid in the purchasing of lamps and chargers such as this, are helping to make this more feasible for many people across the world.

This kit uses a range of new materials and technologies which have helped to change the world we live in since the 1980s, including plastics, rechargeable batteries, LED lights and silicon-chip technology. The latter can be found in both computers and mobile phones, and here it is used in the solar photovoltaic cell.

This cell converts sunlight into electricity. Exposing this cell to nine hours of bright sunshine provides more than 100 hours of even lamp light.