The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Poor man's lamp gets brighter

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 30, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Poor man's lamp gets brighter

T. Lalith Singh

LIGHT OF HIS LIFE: Sharma with the solar lantern. — Photo: D. Gopalakrishnan

HYDERABAD: Though circumstances forced Satyanarayana Sharma to terminate his schooling in class VIII, it failed to kill his quest for learning.

Deprived of formal higher education, the youngster from Rajasthan kept the fire to learn alive and mastered the art of harnessing solar energy as an alternate resource for lighting up homes. And, innovations in solar lamp designs followed.

Sharma has powered the kerosene lantern -- the poor man's source for light -- with solar energy. The small base of the lamp used to fill kerosene is replaced with batteries and the wick yielded its place to a white light emitting diodes (LED). Two punctures on either side make provision for a switch toggle and another one for connecting with solar panels complete the device.

Cutting kerosene cost

"For charging the lantern, I connected it to a board with two solar panels of 2v connected in series. A normal day's charge will provide light for almost 10 hours," he explains.

The light is slightly more than the kerosene version but can help users cut down on kerosene expenses. "With a small one time expense, those dependant on kerosene lamps can harness sunlight," says Sharma.

Panel price

The kerosene lantern was picked from am old goods store and he spent Rs.700 to make it solar energy compliant. The costliest aspect is the panel and he feels the device can be made more affordable if price of panels are brought down. "If so, this lantern will be a boon for homes that cannot afford electricity or the regular solar lamps," the youngster associated with the Rural Technology Park at National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD), Rajendranagar, says Sharma specialised in solar engineering.

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