Language
English
Fishermen living in the vicinity of Laut Tawar Lake in Central Aceh have access to electricity, but they still spend 16-20 percent of their daily revenue from selling fish on kerosene fuel for Petromax. Solar lighting is a cost-effective alternative to kerosene-based lighting, however locals are reticent to make this investment given that when these solar lamps break, they usually do not have replacement parts available locally and cannot be fixed.
Kopernik, in partnership with RUMBIA, built solar lanterns from locally available materials with the local community involved in the manufacturing process. We hypothesized that:
The locally-developed DIY solar lantern would match the performance of the Petromax kerosene light when used for night fishing; and
After being provided training, trainees could assemble at least 50 percent of the distributed lantern kits in a one month timeframe with 50 percent of the assembled lanterns functioning properly.
Kopernik found that the DIY solar lantern produced a higher initial luminosity compared to the Petromax but it was not able to maintain this brightness level, with an 80 percent reduction after 3.5 hours. Kopernik also observed the trainees successfully assembling 72 percent of the distributed lantern kits, but only 5 percent of the assembled lanterns functioned as intended.
Related Project:
Providing Better Access: DIY Solar Lanterns
Author:
Nanis Sakti
Time period:
Feb 2017 to Jan 2018
Timeline:
Full report:
Attachment
Size
Project Report Providing Better Access DIY Solar Lanterns - Phase One
403.81 KB