ENERGY - An idea that could enable the poorest have access to electricity

Thread and needle: that is everything the dressmakers will need to provide electricity to their village. The voluntary program "Portable Light Project", launched by an architectural firm and a U.S. manufacturer of solar panels, will enable the poorest people in the world to have access to electricity in creating it themselves. With a kit, provided by the association, to sew mini-solar panels on clothes or bags, just wear them all the day to light up the evening or recharge a cell phone.

Three hours in the sun for seven hours of use

The kit, sold for $ 16 by village volunteers, consisting of a fine of two watts solar panel, battery pack, a USB port and an LED bulb. This device can be easily attached to clothing or traditional woven bags and throughout the day, the battery is charging. "Just exposing it to sunlight for three hours and then we can use it for seven hours," explains Sheila Kennedy, coordinator of the project site scidev.net.

The project has already been tested in nomadic populations of the Sierra Madre in Mexico and Nicaragua, with support from the NGO Paso Pacifico. There, "children can now do their homework at night and women can perform their work safely home," said Sarah Otterstrom, Director of Paso Pacifico.

Nanotechnology and micro-credit to finance the purchase of mini-panels could be a solution to bring some light to the poor. But it is not yet fully developed by Frederik Krebs, laboratory for renewable energy Riso, Denmark, which has developed a plastic solar light for Africa: "These clothes are not yet quite comfortable, "he says.

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Learn more at: http://portablelight.org/