Green Lanterns Co. and The Solar Lantern Prototype

1. INTRODUCTION:
1,200,000,000.00 people worldwide (approximately twenty percent of the population) have no access to electricity. In South Africa alone, twenty five percent of householders live in non-electrified areas and rely on candles or kerosene lamps for basic lighting(reference). With the increasing demand for electricity and depletion of fossil fuels currently being used to generate electricity, these people face the prospect of going without a connection for years to come. In an attempt to address this problem, “GREEN LANTERNS CO.” was approached and commissioned to construct and test a solar lantern (prototype) that would suit the southern African context and would be capable of supplementing the need for basic lighting in non-electrified areas. Solar lanterns harness a free, renewable energy source and are also environmentally friendly. Therefore they can be seen as a way of decreasing the reliance on rudimentary methods for lighting in southern Africa. The design proposed in this report is a solar lantern, as it is portable, easy to operate, efficient and fairly cheap to manufacture which meets all the specifications in the design brief. This report is structured such that it includes a literature review on solar lanterns, design specifications, manufacture specifications and drawings of the chosen design. Experimental testing was conducted to determine the ideal weather conditions for the prototype to function as well as the charging and discharging time intervals.
Theoretical Background:
To assess if or if not the solar lantern in this report will be able to meet the need for basic lighting in non-electrified areas, the environmental, financial and safety benefits, the disadvantages as well as the history of using ...

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...Conclusion:
From the literature reviewed, it is quite evident that the solar lantern could be the immediate solution for basic lighting in non-electrified areas. The solar lantern harnesses a free and sustainable energy source, is simple to manufacture, easy to operate and requires minimal maintenance or repairs. In the South African context, with South Africa receiving approximately 2500 hours of sunshine per year, the solar lantern is an ideal choice ( Zawilska et. al., 2011). Although there have advantages as well as disadvantages mentioned, the benefits of the solar lantern out-weigh the setbacks by far. Therefore, the implementation of solar lanterns in non-electrified areas will be highly successful.

Works Cited

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