Changing Everything
Lighting is one of the easiest things in the world to take for granted, assuming you live in the developed parts of our planet and there is no interruption of the power flow from your electrical grid. And if you reside in most parts of Africa, much of Latin America, large sections of Southeast Asia – you are forced to rely on kerosene, candles and conventional flashlights when the sun sets – in fact, there are two billion people who still rely on these outdated and expensive options for illumination. Now, with our SunLight series of flashlights, we are changing the way light is provided and the impact on the world will be immense – with your help.
Consider the following...
Cost: For the bottom of the pyramid consumer – the person or family which lives on a few dollars a day of earnings, illumination is a huge expense. World Bank and International Finance Corporation estimates show that lighting can take up as much as 30 percent of a family’s disposable income in the developing world - $8 to $10 dollars monthly. Remove this cost and people will be able to use these funds for medicine, investment in livestock or agriculture or education. When oil hits $120 a barrel, kerosene prices rise as well, so this situation is only getting worse.
In the developed world – one conventional C or D cell flashlight will last for approximately 15 hours before the batteries require replacement. Our lights – on one set of 3 NiMh AA batteries - will provide light for 750 to 1000 nights, 8 hours per night – so 6000 hours minimum. The average price for 2 D-cell batteries (May 2008) is approximately $3.00. (Home Depot, Amazon, E-Bay). Therefore, on average, if used for the equivalent period of 750 nights/6000 hours, a consumer would need to purchase 400 packs of batteries, for a total cost of $1200.00. Eight hundred D-cell batteries or three AA batteries are your choices. And our lights stay charged all the time – while a conventional flashlight stored will lose approximately 3.5% of energy monthly, due to the natural decay of the electrochemical process.
Batteries: We use only Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMh) AA batteries in our products. These are more expensive then Nickel Cadmium (NiCad) AA batteries, however, NiMh batteries have the lowest environmental impact of any battery commercially made and they are easily and profitably recycled, due to the high value of their components. Cadmium is highly toxic, extremely hazardous to people when mined and during product manufacture, and contaminates soil and water when thrown into landfills. Due to these reasons, NiCad batteries are banned in Europe . Companies previously made NiCad batteries here in the US ; however, due to the environmental and negative human impact, battery manufacturers moved their production to China , Mexico and other developing nations, which are poorly equipped to ensure worker safety. Please see the following Wall Street Journal article
From the US Environmental Protection Agency - Because many batteries contain toxic constituents such as mercury and cadmium, they pose a potential threat to human health and the environment when improperly disposed. Though batteries generally make up only a tiny portion of municipal solid waste (MSW)—less than 1 percent—they account for a disproportionate amount of the toxic heavy metals in MSW. (For example, EPA has reported that, as of 1995, nickel-cadmium batteries accounted for 75 percent of the cadmium found in MSW.) When MSW is incinerated or disposed of in landfills, under certain improper management scenarios, these toxics can be released into the environment.
Environmental Impact: Please see our section above on batteries for comments on the impact of batteries leaching into groundwater and soil from landfill disposal and the resulting impact on the environment. This is a problem in the US, and in the developing world, with even less emphasis on proper disposal of batteries and the fact that many use inexpensive poorly made batteries with much higher levels of mercury and cadmium then the US battery manufacturers, the problem of water and agricultural plant contamination is much worse.
In the developing world, consumers primarily use kerosene for illumination, either in a lantern or in a crude can and wick arrangement. The US Department of Energy estimates one lantern emits 100 kilos of carbon annually, and with two billion people in the world still relying on kerosene for illumination, this results in a staggering 98 million metric tons of carbon emitted into the atmosphere. For comparison, this is equivalent to the total combined carbon emissions of the entire United Kingdom . Please see http://light.lbl.gov/ for additional details.
In addition the kerosene lanterns, people in the developing world also use wood for illumination. The primary reason for gathering wood - from trees, bushes, etc, is for cooking, however, lighting is also created and wood is collected just for this purpose. This leads to deforestation and ultimately, loss of top soil and the spread of desertification.
Health: Biomass and kerosene inhalation impacts women and children to a much greater degree then men, as women and children spend more time in enclosed spaces where the fumes are concentrated. The World Health Organization estimates that 1.3 million women annually are stricken with lung cancer from this exposure, and upper respiratory illnesses impact many millions more. Deaths and injuries from accidental kerosene fires also claim untold numbers of victims as well.
Education: It is a pretty simple equation – if you are a child and you cannot see at night to read, and you have to work during the day for survival – tending crops, taking care of livestock, cottage industries, etc, you are going to remain uneducated. This is a huge problem in Africa and the rest of the developing world and with the high costs of kerosene, the situation is not getting better. Our lights change the equation – providing almost free lighting, due to the longevity of the solar panels and batteries, and this one aspect of our lights will have incredible impact in the world.
Safety, Security and Gender Equality: In refugee camps and in times of civil unrest, women and children are the most vulnerable. Our lights provide the ability to identify potential threats, aide in night time activities such as visiting the toilet and at dusk, when many women venture away from their villages for collection of firewood. Women are also the ones who are responsible for traveling to the nearest town or kerosene depot, most often on foot, which takes time, effort and energy, which could be better spent on more productive tasks.