An Indian company has created a rechargeable rechargeable solar lamp that could provide a valuable solution to low-income students in developing countries. Apparently, the loss of valuable study time due to India's power shortage problems and lack of proper, cheap lighting has been a source of consternation for educators for years.
The Studylite lamp comes with an attached solar panel that charges an NiMH battery lasting up to six hours. But the notorious part of the lamp is the simple halo design, where a ring of 24 LEDs provide the necessary glow. I like it in particular because it's an efficient elimination of pointless materials, while still providing a base to keep a focused 'beam' on a subject. This is the better engineered version of the lamp I used in college, which was one single bulb with a cut out plastic cup as the top. Believe me, I wasn't poor, I was just odd and consistently bored.
According to Studylite, the company created the lamp along with the Sankara Nethralaya University hospital, which specializes in the study of eye science. There, they came up with the most optimal levels of lighting ambiance and put them on the lamp.
There's one problem with this item though. At almost $33, it's too expensive to make a dent in the poorest neighborhoods of India. Last we heard, the average Indian citizen makes about $41 a month.
Two weeks ago, another Indian company announced a product with great promise that within days, proved to be a bit of a dissapointment. The Sakshat computer was announced as the first $10 netbook, but we later found out it was neither a laptop or even $10. So to the makers of this lamp, I say, to avoid embarrassment due to over-promising, cut the price by two-thirds and you'll have something that's really a lighting game changer in that community.
Plenty of other companies around the world are already exploring lighting solutions under $20 and so should you.
