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July 13, 2011
Bringing light to the poor — fast, cheap & under control
What a fantastic innovation is this.
Alfredo Mozer of São Paulo invented the plastic bottle lamp.
Though it works only during the day, it provides light equivalent to that of a 40 to 60 watt light bulb.
An ordinary plastic bottle, filled with water and then a little bleach, refracts sunlight in a 360° radius.
The bleach serves to retard algae growth and allows a single bottle to work effectively for about 5 years.
Why aren't these ubiquitous — and not just in the Third World?
Another video here.
[via clifyt]
July 13, 2011 at 04:01 PM | Permalink
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Comments
"Why aren't these ubiquitous — and not just in the Third World?"
Probably because outside the third world, people have attics or at least insulated roofs.
Posted by: wombat | Jul 14, 2011 10:23:19 AM
Fantastic idea.
Posted by: Becs | Jul 13, 2011 6:36:20 PM
It was common in older sailing ships to have prisms installed in their decks. They were called "deadlights," and they worked in the same way.
The super-hightech version uses fibreoptic bundles to pipe light into highrises. http://pesn.com/2005/07/27/9600139_Fiber_Optics_Bring_Sun_Indoors/
Posted by: Andrew | Jul 13, 2011 4:40:37 PM
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