$2.00 LED Light Fixture

Based on many conversations in the developing world I have concluded that poor people don’t want junk. They don’t want a recycled pop can nailed to their ceilings to be their only source of electric light. They want things that look good, just like everyone else. In fact it’s really strange to think of them as “them” or different in some way. Poor people are people who don’t have much money.

The Appropriate Technology Collaborative has the results of our first project working with Designers and Design Students (we often work with Engineers and Engineering students). The photos that accompany this post are proof that designers have a lot to offer low income people and that real design doesn’t have to cost a lot, in fact real design may be cheaper than you could imagine. The photos from the project are here Flickr Photostream

ShineOn designed by gregorysung and leading a team of researchers from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Parsons Paris School of Design have designed and engineered Shine On, a low cost solar/LED lighting system. The rechargeable lighting system can be produced for less than $2 US (not including solar panels) and provides 10 watts of lights versus otherwise environmentally hazerdous and traditional karoseen lamps used in rural  Guatamalan villages where the project focused its efforts.

These folks really put a lot of thought into what a light is, how it functions and how to make something really cool without spending a lot of money. Moreover they designed the lights so that they can be built in the country where they are going to be used. Designer Lights = Local Jobs!

Local Wood LED Light

Note the cool diffuser – it’s a recycled water bottle cap. Used here it looks great, you would never guess it was recycled. The translucent bottle cap diffuses the harsh LED light without absorbing too many photons. The light is on a cord so that it can be relocated to different parts of the room. We could cluster several of these to make a “chandelier” in the center of a room + have long enough cords so that the lights could reach all parts of a single room house.

These designer are very cool!

The possibilities are endless.

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John Barrie + Low Cost LED Light

The Ann Arbor News had a nice article about the Appropriate Technology Collaborative on Sunday, Dec 16th.

ATC is a new tech firm working on creating affordable technologies that solve problems for the 2.1 billion people who live on less than $2.00 per day.

From the Ann Arbor News:

Helpful inventors give away ideas

Architect spearheads nonprofit

John Barrie is interested in a different kind of client.

Oh, it’s not that the folks who’ve hired his Ann Arbor architecture firm haven’t been great – and let him pursue his passion for environmentally sound design.

But, well … there are people who are in a position to pay a whole lot less – in fact, nothing – and who need a whole lot more.

With his family’s blessing, Barrie is transitioning from his life as the principal at the firm that carries his name to full-time executive director of the nonprofit Appropriate Technology Collaborative.

When he talks about it, it’s easy to believe that this is a man who’s eager to get up each morning.

“We can reach 1 million people in five years,” Barrie says. “It’s absolutely realistic.”

Those people are the low-income residents of places in the developing world where there’s little or no electrical service, clean water or sanitation; where health suffers because vaccines spoil and the available fuels foul the air.

They are, in other words, people not served by appropriate technology.

Barrie and his cohorts have a plan to change that.

And it’s elegantly simple.

Working individually and cooperatively, designers, engineers and other like-minded, inventive souls can devise solutions to what are, in the end, technology problems. Let’s say lighting in a place where power is intermittent or nonexistent.

A solution deemed appropriate – that is economically feasible, environmentally sound and sustainable – is given away.

Right. It’s free.

“You can have the plan and make the device for yourself,” Barrie says. “You can use it to go into business and provide these technologies to your community.”

The drawing will be on the Web. “We’re just going to ask people to let us know they’re using them,” Barrie says.

More at the Ann Arbor News

Ann Arbor News article by Judy McGovern

Photo Credit: Lon Horwedel, The Ann Arbor News

Gaialux is the name of our entry in the NASA Create The Future contest. The light is designed for use in “squatter cities”

The following text is from our competition entry:

The Problem:

Most of us take easy access to energy and electric light for granted, but billions of people in less economically developed countries have intermittent power or no power at all and often resort to illuminating their homes with kerosene lamps. Our “Gaialux” light design addresses these problems and also serves as a very efficient task light for college students, architects and designers. Gaialux is an efficient lighting technology for the entire world.

The Invention:

Our invention is a novel Light Emitting Diode (LED) light powered by a recycled cell phone charger. Our light has the option of incorporating batteries that charge when power is available and work when light is needed, thus providing light when other people are left in the dark.

LEDs are very efficient so our light will run for days on battery power alone. When power is available the cell phone charger automatically charges the batteries, when the batteries are fully charged it shuts off – with no standby power loss! (We have measured this)

Currently, LED task lights are extremely energy efficient, but expensive. Our light reduces cost by recycling cell phone chargers for the fixture’s power source. This beneficial re-use of some of the 125 million cell phone chargers that are thrown away each year (in the US alone) keeps electronic waste out of the landfill while saving energy.

Marketability:

Cell phone service providers will want to provide branded energy efficient task lights designed to match their aesthetic palette and powered by their chargers. This reinforces brand loyalty while promoting energy efficiency and a “green” image.

In less economically developed countries where power is intermittent people will want the lights to provide illumination when electricity is not available. In these areas people spend on average $75.00 per year on kerosene to illuminate their homes. Our lights will cost less and provide better quality light. The ceiling light fixture and the table lamp (see illustrations) will eliminate the need for kerosene, thus avoiding pollution, reducing CO2 emissions, eliminating a common cause of fire and reducing respiratory problems. Replacing kerosene lamps with energy efficient LED lamps may qualify for carbon offset credits.

Manufacturing:

We have 3 separate light fixtures that use our Gaialux design. One is a task light for use in developed countries. This can be manufactured as a standard task light with a special location for a cell phone charger designed into the base. Optional batteries will also be located in the base.

The second fixture, a ceiling mounted light, is for less economically developed countries. It incorporates a cell phone charger and batteries under a pedestal that holds a ceiling diffuser. This light is to be wired into the house’s electrical infrastructure. It will be charged when power is available and provide light when light is needed.

The third fixture is also for less economically developed countries. It is a simple table lamp that provides general illumination. The prototype model (see illustration) is made from bamboo sticks and a recycled white plastic bag.

Today over 2.1 billion people live without access to electricity. These people light their homes with kerosene lamps. Kerosene lighting is very inefficient, polluting and dangerous. Replacing kerosene lamps with a solar PV (photovoltaic) and LED (Light Emitting Diode) lighting system saves people money, reduces greenhouse gasses, provides better lighting and reduces health risks.

Our PV+LED light system is an economical alternative to kerosene lighting. It consists of modular solar panels, a modular battery storage system and a novel LED light source. A household can purchase our Solar LED light over a period of 2 – 6 years at a lower cost than the kerosene it replaces. Additional benefits include better quality lighting and extra electric power to operate a radio and charge a cell phone.

We plan on operating our PV+LED light program as a for-profit franchise. Our goal is to provide a franchise with bulk purchased photovoltaic panels, connectors, batteries, LEDs and circuit boards. The franchise will assemble the lights and circuit boards and sell lighting systems. We are actively seeking micro-credit partners to assist in this. The Grameen Shakti foundation has successfully used a similar economic model for replacing kerosene lamps in Bangladesh.

The photos below show PV+LED light is higher quality than kerosene light.