For the world’s poor, sometimes the ground they're living on is all they have. But two London designers with a brilliant idea have turned dirt and stones into something precious: light.

The project began about six years ago, when the charity SolarAid challenged Jim Reeves and Martin Riddiford to design a low-cost, solar-powered light source as an alternative to kerosene.

Between 1.3 and 3 billion people use kerosene lamps for lighting, even though the effects are potentially life-threatening. The World Bank estimates that 780 million women and children around the world inhale a volume of smoke emanating from kerosene lamps equivalent to smoking two packets of cigarettes a day. The fumes can cause eye infections and cataracts, and overturned lamps are an important cause of burns and fires. Furthermore, the cost of kerosene is a poverty trap, with the fuel consuming up to 30 percent of some families’ incomes.

As they brainstormed over solar alternatives, the designers struggled with the inevitability of batteries, which are both costly and inefficient. And yet—how else to make solar energy last through the night?

It occurred to them that gravity, unlike sunlight, is available 24 hours a day.

"We had a really intriguing idea,” said Reeves, “that would allow us to cut out the cost of batteries and charging electronics entirely." They created a device, a bag filled with about 10 kilograms of rocks or sand, attached to a cord with a counterweight. As it slowly descends, the bag transforms potential energy into kinetic energy and powers a drive sprocket and polymer gear train, generating enough electricity to illuminate an LED bulb for up to 30 minutes. Once the bag reaches the floor, it is simply lifted to repeat the process.

The GravityLight was born.

In 2013, they launched a crowdfunding campaign to help cover the cost of making product samples so they could distribute lamps for trials in India and Africa. Their target was US$55,000, but in under 40 days they reached nearly eight times that goal. Halfway through the campaign Bill Gates tweeted to his followers, calling the GravityLight a “pretty cool innovation.”

This unexpected infusion of money allowed them to rapidly pursue their plans. In 2014, they trialed the lamp with more than 1,300 off-grid families in 27 countries. More than 90 percent said they would use a GravityLight rather than kerosene. “We got basic proof of concept,” said Caroline Angus, the company's commercial director.

They also got a lot of feedback from users, which they have looped back into their concept to design a significantly improved version. “We had stories of kids using the bags as a swing,” explained Angus. And so, added Reeves, the GL02, the second edition of the GravityLight, “has been tested to sustain the sudden addition of an 8-year-old." GL01 required the user to bend down and pick up a heavy weight, then lift it high. Now they’ve created a hoisting system that even children can use.

The newer version allows the lights to stay on all of the time—previously, they would go off while somebody lifted up the bag again. The company also developed SatLights, a series of attachable lamps that can be plugged into the GravityLight source to create other points of light in a room.

At a retail price of $20, the GL02 might be an expensive acquisition for the very poor, but the designers say it pays for itself within weeks, due to savings on kerosene. They expect that the price will come down in time.

They have also discovered that their potential market goes beyond the 1.3 billion or more impoverished people dependent on kerosene. People who lost power during Hurricane Sandy in New York wanted a GravityLight, as do people from emergency relief organizations. There have even been requests from an eco-lodge.

This interest has helped to drive the company's business strategy. In 2013 it created Deciwatt, a social enterprise developing off-grid, clean energy solutions for clients such as NGOs or retailers in high income countries catering to outdoor enthusiasts. A portion of Deciwatt’s profits go to the year-old GravityLight Foundation to support the mission of eliminating kerosene lamps and tackling poverty.

Reeves said he wants to go further, creating not only a sustainable product, but one made in a sustainable way. In September, GravityLight concluded a second crowdfunding campaign, this time raising nearly $300,000 to subsidize an operation to assemble the GL02 in Kenya—one of the target markets—in locally-staffed factories. Reeves’s goal is to build a self-supporting venture within three years. “It seems clear that the quickest way to take any product solution to scale, and ensure it reaches everyone who needs it, is for that activity to form part of someone's livelihood.”

The company’s ambition is to hit the local market with the made-in-Kenya GL02 next spring. GravityLight’s five-year goal is to improve the lives of 1.25 million people. “When you believe you have the means to affect change in such a significant way,” Reeves said, “it's something you can't let go of until you've delivered.”

For more information : gravitylight.org

Video : http://www.sparknews.com/en/video/gravitylight-power-gravity-light-developing-countries

comment COMMENT NOW