Liter of Light Solar Soda Bottle Lights
LED solar soda bottle lights are LED lights in big soda bottles that are lighting up the streets around the world that would otherwise be in total darkness. Not only are they cheap and easy to construct but they are also powered by a small solar panel and a battery pack.
The project is designed by the Liter of Light organization that is also famous for the Moser Lamp. The Moser Lamp added water to the bottle in order to refract light and produce the same as a 55W light bulb.
Most countries that are in darkness can’t afford the expensive parts, the know-how to fix them when they get damaged or broken and most take months to be delivered from China and such countries. Liter of Light has put up YouTube videos with step by step instructions on how to make them. In total they cost around $176 000 Columbian Peso each or US$70 and the outer protective material is a simple plastic soda bottle with a 3W LED light inside. The parts needed to make the lights can be sourced locally and the battery alone can run the light for 3 consecutive nights without being charged.
The project now has 53 chapters all around the world who have installed 250 000 bottle lights and over 15 000 night lights.
According to the UN, 1.5 billion people around the world have to make do either with very poor quality light or no light at all. There are 1.3 billion who rely on kerosene lamps which emit toxic fumes, causing respiratory illnesses such as asthma, bronchitis and pneumonia. Inhaling kerosene smoke is equivalent to smoking four packets of cigarettes a day and kills an estimated 1.5 million people each year.
Making such a necessity possible with items like soda bottles that would otherwise be liter is a great thing. In addition, making them easy to assemble and giving instructions so that they can be assembled by basically anyone is an even better thing. Don’t give a man fish to feed himself for one meal, teach him to fish so he can feed his family for a lifetime. Thousands, even millions, around the world will benefit from this – children who have to work way before their time can now study at night, play a soccer game in the village and woman can walk home from work without being in danger. Families can cook at night and see their food. Some villages that use candles, (that obviously burn and need replacing constantly) no longer need to worry about fires or their children getting burnt. Light is a basic necessity that all should have access to…and now they can! This is a good thing!