Two gentleman, Jim Reeves and Martin Riddlford were challenged to come up with the best solution for providing low cost LED lighting for the remote villages in Kenya who were still using kerosene lamps. What they came up with is a new revolutionary gravity powered light. Inventing something entirely new was never the goal. What they have done is absolutely a game-changer, a radical new form of lighting.
The new lights have an estimated $10 villager cost and no running cost as it is powered by gravity. Using a bag (provided with light) filled with dirt or rocks, and attaching to a pulley on a cord of beads. As I understand it, the weight of the bag will slowly pull downward providing approximately 30 minutes of power to the light. There is no indication of this item being on the market for sale to the public at this time. It is still involved in research and development as field tests have shown children wanted to swing on the bag of rocks powering the light.
Durability and lifetime of the product is now the major focus. The gravity light is crowdfunded and tied to the charity Solaraide of the United Kingdom to help Kenya, it might be awhile before they become available to the public.
Knowledge is Power
For more information about donating http://gravitylight.org/#/donate/
For information about progress http://gravitylight.org/learnings/
For general information http://gravitylight.org/
Knowledge is Power
I would stop at the end of the invented item credits and links, but this item must really be observed as a new understanding of creating power using a bag of rocks. I do not think that concept is really addressed here, it not being the focus. I just want to leave the reader with that thought- a bag of rocks.