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Community impact2016–2017

Solar lamps for Kenya

Low-cost solar lamps and a step-by-step workshop to build them, taken to Kenya in winter 2016–17 so women can light their work after sundown.

A solar lamp in a plastic bottle with a small panel on top, lit
Client
Lesley Sager, Merry-Go-Strong
Years
2016–2017
Area
Community impact
Deployed
Kenya, winter 2016–17

The problem

Work after sundown

Many homes in rural Kenya have no lighting. After sundown children cannot do their homework, and women cannot weave the bags that supplement the family’s income.

Merry-Go-Strong works with women in Kenyan communities.
Bag weaving supplements the family’s income.

How it was built

Step by step

2016–2017Solution

A lamp anyone can build

The lamp had to be cost efficient, light up the work area, be easy to make and use materials that are available locally.

The circuit

  • 4 V solar panel
  • 3.2 V battery
  • Switch
  • 100 Ω resistor
  • 6 LEDs
  • Diode
The circuit.
Bottle lamps, ready for testing.
The prototype.
An early version on a single strip.

Winter 2016–17In Kenya

Workshops, not just lamps

The team designed and built the lamp and wrote a step-by-step workshop for making it. Workshops were held in Kenya over winter 2016–17, with a return visit in winter 2018.

Community involvement

  • Set up and teach workshops
  • Make the program sustainable
  • Build a culture of “making”
  • Further Merry-Go-Strong’s mission to empower women in the community
A build workshop.
Finished lamps.
Soldering the circuit.

Next steps

What comes next

As listed by the team at the end of the project.

  1. Add a USB port
  2. Balance brightness against power consumption
  3. A Wisconsin Idea Fellowship grant: travel to Kenya and create a makerspace for the community

Credits

Who made it

Team

James Ewald, Mary Claire Mancl, Max Roth, David Seamon, Megan Sweet

Client

Lesley Sager, Merry-Go-Strong

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