A Liter of Light
Illuminates the Philippines
It began as a sustainable technology project for a group of students, but
now the solar bottle bulb is brightening the darkest corners of the world.
T
he residents of Sitio
Maligaya, Philippines,
spend as much time as
they can outdoors. To foreigners,
they may just look like day
laborers, keeping busy with
everything that needs to be done
before the sun sets. But the truth
is they spend so much time
outside because their homes are
dark.
In this small community, most
homes have no electricity or
light. On a larger scale, 3 million
Philippine homes are just like
those in Sitio Maligaya, cloaked
in darkness 24 hours a day. In the
Southeast Asian island nation,
where electricity is available but
expensive, many families have
to go without it in order to reduce
household expenses. And their
hardships are made even more
insurmountable by the fact that
homes that do have electricity
often face an increased risk of
fire due to improper wiring.
However, a group of students
at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology saw the plight
of families in the Philippines
as a challenge. How could they
create a sustainable lighting
source with simple materials and
without the use of electricity?
They answered the challenge
with the solar bottle bulb.
The idea is a basic one: clean a
liter-sized plastic bottle, and then
add water with two capfuls of
bleach. The bottle is then fitted
snugly into a square-shaped
piece of corrugated metal that
will provide coverage over a
roughly-cut hole in the roof of a
house.
The water in the bottle will
attract sunlight and refract its
rays, redistributing the light
throughout the room. Because
the bleach can prevent algae from
building up in the water, one solar
bottle can be as illuminating as
a 50-watt light bulb and last as
long as five years.
“This is a really unique product
because essentially it works
when the sun is shining. There is
a specific kind of slum dwelling
that has essentially no windows,
and anything that can bring a little
light into one of these dwellings
is welcome,” explained John
Barrie, Executive Director of
the Appropriate Technologies
Collaborative.
Its technological genius lies in
its simplicity, and the solar bottle
bulb could mean the difference
between daytime and darkness
in areas that do not have access
to safe and affordable electricity.
In fact, once MIT students
introduced the solar bottle bulb,
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the
MyShelter
Foundation
in the Philippines used the
technology to light homes all
over the country. They named
the lighting project Isang Litrong
Liwanag, which means “A Liter
of Light” in Tagalog. Isang
Litrong Liwanag has stated that
its mission is to light at least one
million homes by the year 2012.
As a cost-effective alternative to
electricity, the solar bottle only
costs about two dollars to make
and a few minutes to install.
In addition to its immediate
effects for lighting in the
developing areas, it also presents
an opportunity for economic
empowerment. “The bottles are a
free resource, and the corrugated
metal and caulk is all you need,”
Barrie added. “Someone could
provide this at a relatively low
cost, and people can make a little
bit of money.”
to do it.”
Overall, the solar bulb’s
greatest impact may be what it
represents--a changing global
community where even the
economically
disadvantaged
can access the tools they need
to help one another. As Barrie
explained, “The beauty of it is
that people are starting to solve
their own problems. It’s creating
a net public good through social
media.”
Another appealing aspect of this
solution to affordable lighting
is the fact that they are easy to
replicate. Solar bottle bulbs do
not require factory-made parts
that will be difficult to maintain,
and making the bottle is a
process that almost anyone can
learn to do. One particular video,
produced by Isang Litrong
Liwanag, continues to be reposted in online communities
because it demonstrates step-bystep how to make a solar bottle.
“It’s actually being done by
people in the field,” said Barrie.
“You can get YouTube anywhere
on the planet, and you don’t
even have to speak Portuguese
to understand the gentleman in
the video who is explaining how
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