This prompted MIT student Alfredo Moser to come up with an idea for a solar lamp fashioned out of recycled water bottles. This idea was further developed by Illac Diaz, a Filipino student who used it to create the Isang Litrong Liwanag AKA the 1 Liter of Light project. Even though its name may be slightly misleading, the alternative lighting system basically ensures that people are able to utilize natural daylight without having the sun blazing in through a bigger skylight during the day.
Each solar lamp contains one liter of water mixed with bleach which creates the same amount of light as a regular 60 watt incandescent light bulb. What’s ever better is that the bleach keeps the water algae and bacteria-free for over 5 years which gives each installation a longer life.
The I Liter of Light project basically uses discarded one liter PET bottles, fills them up with water and uses it to create a solar lamp/skylight hybrid that captures and amplifies the light of the sun which functions like an electric lamp and floods the indoors with light during the day.
The lamp does not require any electricity to function though it can be a bit less luminescent on cloudy or rainy days. The project is a part of the My Shelter Foundation group who has invited homeowners, students and volunteers to create their own zero-cost makeshift solar lamps and their goal is to have 1 million bottle lamps fitted in homes throughout the Philippines.
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