The Luminaid

Two years ago there was earthquake on Haiti which damaged all power lines, destroyed many houses leaving many people with out their homes and electricity, so they would spend nights in the darkness without seeing anything.

Andrea Sreshta the student of Columbia University in New York who was putting a special effort towards master degree in architecture
"Lighting was something that seemed a little bit overlooked," she said. So for a class project on designing around disaster, Sreshta teamed up with classmate Anna Stork, who had a background in engineering. Together, they decided to create lighting for the thousands of Haitians living in the so-called "tent cities" that sprang up around the country, particularly on the outskirts of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
"We read stories about how people felt very unsafe at night, especially women and children," says Sreshta. Given Haiti's shaky electricity grid, the two women turned to the idea of solar power. They designed a number of solutions, large and small, but one idea really stuck; a small solar light which they calles the Luminaid.
The idea, like the product itself, couldn't be simpler. Luminaid is an inflatable plastic bag, about the size of a small pillow. In an exterior pocket, Sreshta and Stork fitted a solar cell, a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, and one single LED. It has one switch, which can be set to off, low and high. Depending on the sunlight, the battery can fully charge in two to three hours. On the low setting, Luminaid can give light for about six hours. On the high setting, it lasts around four hours.





http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120207-lantern-shines-light-on-disasters?selectorSection=technology