MIT: Bringing Light To The Poor, One Liter At A Time

Uploaded by TrendGuardian on Aug 2, 2011

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Who thought that this simple idea could light a thousand houses? In places where there is no grid, houses can be dark. But a simple solution: a plastic bottle stuck in the roof--can light up a room.
The lightbulbs are made of three simple elements: a plastic bottle, water, and bleach; an unlimited supply. The simple technology can be installed in less than an hour, lasts for five years, and is equivalent to a 60-watt bulb.

This is how simple it works: the water defracts the light, letting it spread throughout the house instead of focusing on one point. The bleach keeps the water clear and microbe-free. Although this technology has been around for years, it was not until students at MIT focused on "appropriate technologies" put it as a social entrepreneurship mission. The solar bottle bulb is illuminating poor settlements across the Philippines, where the organization Isang Litrong Liwanag ("A Liter of Light") has already installed 10,000 of them. "With the Solar Bottle Bulb project, a brighter Philippines is going to become a reality," Illac Diaz, a social entrepreneur installing the bulbs, told a Filipino publication.