For the past three years, Fark and his team have partnered with Philips to test several solar lighting prototypes, including a portable lantern—composed of a 5W polycrystalline silicon solar panel and a 5W four-pin lamp—that is now available for retail. “They are the first of the big players in the lighting industry that have recognized the potential in the off-grid lighting market and are trying to design products for that market,” Fark says.
LUTW developed a pilot program in Costa Rica that places Philips’ basic solar light systems, reading lamps, and portable lanterns in homes for consumer feedback. Luis Dumani is the director of a Costa Rican nonprofit called the Association for Science and Moral Education and he partners with LUTW to deliver solar lighting to native tribes living on a reserve in Talamanca. Dumani says the lights not only improve the social and economic lives of these families, they also increase educational opportunities. “We want to strengthen the knowledge of the people with these systems,” Dumani says, by offering training in the basics of solar energy and maintenance.
Philips is now getting ready to release a complete low-cost plug-and-play home system through LUTW, a development that excites Fark. “The package will include the PV panels, batteries, switches for the light, everything, all in a well-contained, inexpensive, and easy-to-install parcel.”
BEYOND ILLUMINATION Nick Kelso, senior communications manager for Philips Africa, says the company hopes to reach 10 million people by 2015 with their off-grid LED lights. Kelso is spending the summer traveling across Africa to introduce their latest design, a solar-powered floodlight system meant for outdoor purposes such as soccer fields. “The system can illuminate areas up to 40 meters by 20 meters (approximately 131 feet by 65 feet) with bright white light,” he says. Battery cells provide up to eight hours of floodlighting per solar charge. The system he is showcasing is portable, so it can be installed for a game, taken down after, and stored or moved to another site. And while soccer fields might not seem like a priority area in a part of the world where electricity is scarce, it is in fact a valuable community asset. The games allow for new social interaction while introducing people to the possibilities of solar through the sport that is so culturally significant in their everyday lives.
Another company, Florida-based Sol, has been developing solar-powered exterior lighting since 1990. Today, they have products in 61 countries around the world. “A lot of those locations are what we would consider Third World where there is no electrical infrastructure,” says company CEO Rick Schuett. Their off-grid technology is perhaps most poignantly displayed when used in relief efforts, such as those in Haiti. Within 24 hours of the earthquake, Sol mobilized staff and volunteers to deliver exterior lights to airports, medical clinics, roadways, and food distribution sites. Fixtures were also installed at refugee camps to provide security after dark. To date, over 100 of Sol’s solar light systems have been donated and installed quickly and without wiring.
While strides have been made in recent years, renewable and safe solar lighting is still a mystery for most consumers living without reliable electricity. One of the biggest challenges, according to Lighting Africa’s Njagi, is convincing consumers to switch from a known entity (kerosene) to an unknown entity (solar). With the glut of new solar products entering the marketplace, those of poor design quality threaten to arrest progress. “There is still very low awareness of these products among consumers,” Njagi says. “They do not have a lot of disposable income, and there is no brand identity yet with these lights. If they buy a product that does not meet their expectations, then we run the risk that they say all solar products do not work.”
Which is why companies like D.light go to great lengths to invest both capital and creativity in a human-centered design process that yields low-cost, high-quality lights. Robin Chilton says it’s worth the extra effort. “Kids are no longer studying by looking into a flame of a kerosene wick, their faces covered with smoke and soot,” he says. “These lights change lives.”