Long term light for Africa, no electricity or batteries, what do you recommend?

[StarHalo]

cool!
see-saw pump:
merry-go-round pump:

Ah ha, so you have the merry-go-round dynamo, the see-saw pump, etc; a playground that provides all the utilities for the village..

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Ah ha, so you have the merry-go-round dynamo, the see-saw pump, etc; a playground that provides all the utilities for the village..

may just be better suited to hook a grinding wheel powered by two oxen to pump water to a high holding tank that later can be released through a generator to make electricity. That solves having to use batteries and wearing out kids and storage of power plus water storage too.

 

[Toke]

may just be better suited to hook a grinding wheel powered by two oxen to pump water to a high holding tank that later can be released through a generator to make electricity. That solves having to use batteries and wearing out kids and storage of power plus water storage too.

Way too technical, remember that maintainance is not a town in africa.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Way too technical, remember that maintainance is not a town in africa.

May be more technical but more useful than a merry go round to charge batteries. With a water driven generator you may not even need a 12 battery to capture power for later use your battery is a water tower, you need a pump to fill it though unless you of course use a bucket brigade instead.

 

[filibuster]

Besides the Bogo light which has already been mentioned as a solar charged light, d.light makes a few solar lights that should work very well in Africa.

The d.light Nova light has a good sized battery and adjustable multi mode LED light and uses a small external solar solar panel for charging. Plus it can charge cell phones and other USB devices.

Their smaller Kiran light isn't as bright but is well designed and can provide enough light to read by.

All three of the above lights are probably the best for solar use because they've been designed to take into account the heat stress on the batteries inside them that could quickly cause other solar lights to fail prematurely.

Here's a comparison of some lights and testing done on them for a reading project in Chad Africa that maybe applicable to your situation.

 

[netprince]

Just wanted to update everyone, I went with the freeplay ML-1 mini lantern. The two big selling points...

1) Efficient crank to recharge batteries that are user replaceable
2) Lantern with a spot option

I received the light last week, and so far it seems to be working well. I first broke in the batteries with a full charge/discharge/charge/discharge. I'm impressed at how long it runs on 60-90 cranks. High level lasts at least 10 minutes, and low level over an hour. Low level is plenty of light for night-adjusted eyes. Its also 'infinitely variable' between low and high, so the perfect output for the situation can be dialed in...

I hope to report how it works and how the villagers like it after she returns... (would be cool to get pictures too)

 

[netprince]

Just an update to include some pictures.

 

[Granville]

I'm not sure if anyone has made a recommendation for the Bogolight, but thats what I would use in Africa. :twothumbs

 

[DesertFox]

Essential Gear has lanterns that hand crank, and are rechargeable from a 12 volt source. Don't know if they are tough enough for Africa though.

http://www.essentialgear.com/store/c/28-Rechargeable-LED-Lighting.html