More solar powered shenanigans for Friday, this time for the developing world. The LuminAID Light consists of a solar panel, a slimline battery and some LEDs, all wrapped up in a tough, inflatable plastic bag.
The lamp itself is dead simple, and therefore less likely to go wrong. The bag inflates like a pair of kids' water wings, allowing it to float and also diffusing the sharp light from the LEDs inside. Once charged by sunlight, the lamp can put out 35 lumens of light (high) for four hours, and 20 lumens for six hours on low. The battery can be cycled 800 times before it dies.
The scheme, being launched on Kickstarter-alike Indiegogo, works like the OLPC give-on-get-one campaign. You pay $25 for two LuminAIDs. One is sent to you, and one is sent to help people in developing countries. You can also choose to just send a lamp to somebody who needs it for $10. And because they pack thin and flat, 50 LuminAIDs can be shipped in the space needed for just eight regular solar flashlights.
LuminAID [LuminAID Lab. Thanks, Nadin!]
