Every month somewhere in the world another solar lantern is designed to "change the world", give rural kids the opportunity "to study in the night", and therefore "really can make a difference for thousands of children in the developing world ". Now a do-it-yourself solar lantern, designed by the Swiss startup LEDsafari,  won an Award from the EIT (European Institute of Technology).

Forbes reports about this: "In a world that sees so many self-defined “visionaries”, intent at measuring each other’s wallet, he really looks and acts like someone who privileges making an impact over just making a lot of money. He’s the CEO and co-founder of LED Safari, a company which has designed an innovative solar lamp, made up of only five electrical components (a small solar panel, a battery, an LED bulb, a switch and the electric circuit), which can be self-assembled by anyone, using locally available material. (…) On his desk, when we meet for the interview, he is showcasing a lamp made with the bottom of a PVC bottle, another obtained from a carton of yoghurt, a third one whose lampshade is composed of aluminium foil." (read more: http://www.forbes.com/sites/federicoguerrini/2015/05/08/bringing-light-where-theres-no-electricity-with-a-diy-solar-led-lamp/).

The company itself states: "We have designed an innovative solar lamp which is made up of only five carefully chosen electrical components and which can be self-assembled by anyone. It is the cheapest available solar lamp (2$) which has the potential to replace kerosene lamps (2$/week for fuel). It can be assembled without prior technical knowledge using locally available material and is easy to repair at the village level after a basic training." (http://www.climate-kic.org/start-ups/ledsafari/).

Of course, there are some disadvantages of this self-made lantern. For instance the lamp lasts only three months (!) – but nevertheless it "can change the world"…. 

For more information visit the company webpage: www.ledsafari.com 

Comments

Comment by LEDsafari on May 15, 2015
Hello,
Thank you for writing an article about LEDsafari on website. 
However, the information is not correct as 
"Of course, there are some disadvantages of this self-made lantern. For instance the lamp lasts only three months (!) – but nevertheless it "can change the world"…. "
This is old news and 2 years back now our battery stays till 2+ years and other components can stay till 5-10 years if not physically damaged. Also, if some components can go wrong you need to just replace it without changing whole lamp. 
We teach students so having lamp is not the aim but the process.
http://ledsafari.com/the-lamp/
I hope you can correct this on the website. So that people don’t get wrong information. Also our lamp cost 5 $ in developing country and 30$ in developed. This is to show the price comparison as someone earning 100$ a month for him 5 $ is quite a money and similarly if an european earning 2000 $ for him 30$ will have an value.