Access to lighting solutions means that families with limited electricity can improve education and livelihoods.
The Challenge
- More than 1.5 billion people in the world live without access to electricity. The UN’s Millennium Development Goals identify electricity as essential to eradicating poverty, calling for 500 million more people to be electrified by 2015.
- Many households rely on kerosene lanterns and candles to meet their lighting needs, but these light sources are expensive, hazardous, polluting and produce low-quality light.
The Innovation
- Taking advantage of the advances in light emitting diode (LED) technology, d.light aims to provide an economically and socially preferable alternative to kerosene lanterns, which are expensive, inefficient, dangerous, and low-quality sources of light. The company’s first product, Forever-Bright, can be charged a number of ways: with standard 100 V or 210 V power, using a diesel generator accessible via rural recharge stations, or with a solar attachment.
The Impact
- By replacing a kerosene lamp with Forever-Bright, a consumer can expect to experience cost savings of up to $150 over five years; increased safety due to the elimination of accidental fires caused by kerosene lamps; better health due to the reduction of indoor air pollution;and increased productivity as household and livelihood enhancing activities can be performed at night.