14 DAY TRIAL // Dutch startup Off-Grid Solutions combine eco-friendly technologies with a charitable goal, in a new project aiming to take 1.5 billion financially-challenged people out of the dark.
The main objective is to lighten the African continent in a sustainable manner, annihilating the harmful kerosene dependency.
Their solution is an innovative series of WakaWaka solar LED lamps, considered both high-tech and very affordable. It is definitely much more advanced than the cheap, simple solar “bulbs” made of plastic bottles, filled with water and bleach and installed on roofs to lighten homes in the same areas.
The WakaWaka gadget can also be used to recharge phones. Users have to take out the battery from their cell phone and plug it into the battery holder, to have unlimited access to a faster, more efficient way of recharging their mobiles.
This feature will be improved by the end of next year, aiming to charge phones directly, including iPhones and Blackberries. Rumor has it the tiny gadget will cost a little more, but the changes will be worth every cent.
Developers are pleased with their new invention and say it has enough potential to light up Africa “like a Christmas tree.”
The project relies on the power of crowdfunding; therefore, the team encourages people do buy their device priced at $35 (€26.77) and support their cause with a minimal contribution of $1(€0.76), to bring some green light in the lives of financially-challenged people from India, Kenya, Tanzania, India or Haiti.
The WakaWaka solar lamps are the product of advanced green technologies, they fit on a bottle and harness enough sunlight to offer 16 full hours of reading light. Plus, it counts as an eco-friendly, risk-free manner of lightning homes.
At a point in time when the African market of solar lamps has reached a 450% growth, this innovation seems like a great asset necessary for a sustainable development.
The great news is that, unlike other competitors, the new generation of lamps, designed by Studio Kalkwijk is properly equipped to be efficient in any weather conditions.
Moreover, the gadget comes with a high performance replaceable battery that can last for years even if it is used on a daily basis.
Costs are definitely an important element in this equation. The main objective is to deliver these lamps for less than $10.00 (€7.64), as much as local people would pay for hazardous lighting fuels enough to last for up to three months.
Health benefits are significant, since 780 million poor people inhale the equivalent of two packs of cigarettes, as a result of air pollution triggered by toxic smoke, on an annual basis.