4/19/13

GravityLight, lighting for the developing countries

deciwatt.org is a research initiative focussed on low power devices. GravityLight is a product of this initiative. We envisage other projects which bring together low-power electronics with off-grid energy generation to connect the more unconnected. Access to the world's knowledge via the internet, peer to peer communication and education are possible for these people using today's electronics, if built from the ground up.

GravityLight

deciwatt.org is our initiative to try to make this happen through our existing network of clients, and connections to groups who share our hopes for GravityLight.

lighting for the developing countries

therefore has over 20 years of experience in designing and developing handheld computing and communication products for a host of pioneers including Psion, Toshiba, NEC, TomTom, Inmarsat, ICO, Sepura, Racal Acoustics, Voller energy etc. We work at the heart of an industry which is driven by Moore's law. However there is another less known parallel trend, called Koomey's law.

Koomey's law describes a long-term trend in the history of computing hardware. The number of computations per joule of energy dissipated has been doubling approximately every 1.57 years. This trend has been remarkably stable since the 1950s (R2 of over 98%) and has actually been somewhat faster than Moores law. Jonathan Koomey articulated the trend as follows: at a fixed computing load, the amount of battery you need will fall by a factor of two every year and a half.[1]
Many would say that this trend just keeps pace with the increasing sophistication of computing. However it also has a flip side. It means that relatively simple devices progressively need less energy to run. Similar efficiencies have been seen in radio communication too, opening up the possibility of low cost, off-grid computing and communication equipment. Our vision has evolved from two self-funded projects exploring low power opportunities and solutions for the developing world. The first was the Talking Stick project, presented to Cambridge Wireless as a concept to bring communication to the unconnected. The second is GravityLight, an off-line project which is now at a working prototype stage, seeking funding via Indiegogo.

[Update 20 Mar]
Martin and Mary Riddiford visited Nawala School in Sri Lanka on 19th February 2013, where 20% of pupils' homes have no electricity and kerosene lamps are used for lighting. Extra Cover, a UK based charity helping poor Sri Lankan schools, arranged visits to 3 of these homes and to meet the
deciwatt.org 1/7

4/19/13

GravityLight, lighting for the developing countries

families. (see extracover.org.uk )

Martin reported "I brought a GravityLight prototype to Sri Lanka to get first hand feedback and reaction to it as a replacement for kerosene lamps. In particular I wanted to get insights on how & where it might be fitted, the ease of finding suitable material to fill the weight bags, and whether its use pattern would be acceptable. First we had a demonstration of a typical kerosene lamp, which usually consists of an old medicine bottle, and a metal lid pierced with a hole for the home-made wick made from a strip of cloth. Filling it involved lots of spillage. Lighting it with a match produced a yellow flame, giving the light equivalent of a candle, and a lot of smoke. The well known hazards include the significant danger of it being knocked over and potential lung damage from the smoke.

deciwatt.org

2/7

4/19/13

GravityLight, lighting for the developing countries

Typical usage was reported to be 3 kerosene lights, one kept alight throughout the night. This level of usage costs about 500 Rupees (~US$4) per month. This is a significant amount of money for these families. The GravityLight prototype was set up, hanging from a roof beam, which was easy to get at as it was exposed under the tiles. The beam proved to be plenty strong enough to easily support the weight of the GravityLight. The approximately 10kg weight which powers the light was made up from the plentiful supply of rocks around the house, loaded into the bag.

deciwatt.org

3/7

4/19/13

GravityLight, lighting for the developing countries

It was difficult to fully assess the amount of light that the GravityLight generated as it was daytime, but we know that when it is completely dark, even a small amount of light makes a big difference. It was certainly a lot brighter than the kerosene flame. I also demonstrated the ability to add a task light to the GravityLight, which enables a more focussed beam to be used for reading etc.

The weight needs to be lifted every 15 to 30 minutes to recharge the light. Everyone who tried was easily able to lift the weight. The insight gained from how kerosene lamps are used, and a typical house layout has enabled us to firm up our thinking about providing a wired-in lighting system, rather than just an ambient light. The intention is that the basic, lowest cost GravityLight will have a built in LED light, for general illumination. It has screw terminals which enable a wire to be connected with several additional LED lights along its length for additional ambient lighting, at the end of which is a more powerful light to be used as a task light, which can be hung over a table, or pointed like a torch. Although the light level is still low, it is far better than the kerosene lights it seeks to replace. This should enable the family to do more in the evening - including reading and learning! This set-up should be able to replace the 3 lamps which are currently used. We are researching whether GravityLight can provide a very low level night light too. We are planning on completing the design and development by April, and hope to be manufacturing the first trial batch in the summer. We will be gifting units to organisations, including Extra Cover, around the developing world to get feedback from real life use and abuse before committing to full scale production. Our goal is to make GravityLight as low cost as possible, but still to be robust enough to survive years of use. It is likely cost about the equivalent of 2 to 4 months kerosene usage, depending on how it is distributed. After that, the light is free..." More detailed updates will be posted regularly at www.deciwatt.org/updates .

deciwatt.org

4/7

4/19/13

GravityLight, lighting for the developing countries

All the best, Team Deciwatt info@gravitylight.org 20 March 2013

Thank You!
TERAWATT supporters

PETAWATT supporters
Alethea Bair-Sutherland Carlos Espinosa Daniel Zwolenski David Curtis Duane Fallon Engenius Software
deciwatt.org

GIGAWATT supporters

MEGAWATT supporters

KILOWATT supporters

5/7

4/19/13

GravityLight, lighting for the developing countries

Jeffrey Mayner Kathy Baglan Kevin McGrath Michael Nugent Mike Cilento Stefan Greth / MLP Mainz II The Indiegogo campaign is now over but the interest in contributing towards this vision continues. We cannot offer any more perks but if you would like to contribute towards our efforts of further development of GravityLight and deciwatt initiatives, you can do so using the Donate button below: Donate* for further development * We cannot offer any more perks.

Newsletter
Subscribe to Deciwatt & GravityLight newsletter. We will keep you up to date with the latest developments and any future campaigns. Enter your email address to subscribe. Subscribe

A realistic alternative to Kerosene lamps.

There are currently over 1.5 billion people in the World who have no reliable access to mains electricity. These people rely, instead, on biomass fuels (mostly kerosene) for lighting once the sun goes down. We propose a sustainable lighting solution powered by gravity. GravityLight, an off-line project which is now at a working prototype stage.

Share the cause

Thanks to help of our supporters we have now successfully secured funding for the trial phase of the GravityLight Mk1. We will gift them to villagers in both Africa and India to use regularly. The follow-up research will tell us how well the lights met their needs, and enable us to refine the design for a more efficient MK2 version. Once we have proved the design, we will be looking to link with NGOs and partners to distribute it as widely as possible. When mass produced the target cost for this light is less than $5. Read more about the original brief which inspired thousands of people around the world to support GravityLight. The Indiegogo campaign is now over but the interest in contributing towards this vision continues. We cannot offer any more perks but if you would like to contribute towards our efforts of further development of GravityLight and deciwatt initiatives, you can do so using the Donate button below: Donate* for further development
deciwatt.org 6/7

4/19/13

GravityLight, lighting for the developing countries

* We cannot offer anymore perks.

GravityLight is maintained by Therefore : Product Design Consultants This page is hosted by GitHub Pages. Based on Tactile theme by Jason Long.

deciwatt.org

7/7