ingenious GravityLight Generates Light with Just a Weight

A new crowd-funding project seeks to bring a clean light source to people in the world that do not have access to electricity.

GravityLight generates light with the lift of a weight. This ingenious device is going to bring a clean light source to people living in areas where there is no electricity grid. One in five people do not have electricity. They often use open fire sources like kerosene lamps that are bad for health.

The team behind GravityLight has been motivated primarily to develop a safe, clean and affordable alternative to kerosene lamps. The team has already launched a trial in 2014, enabled by the Indiegogo community. 1,300 off-grid families use their first GravityLight design – GL01. Now the team is raising funds to build the improved GravityLight GL02. The new GravityLight is easier to use, brighter and more robust.

Once GravityLight is installed and a 12kg weight – a bag of rocks or sand – attached, it’s ready to go, anytime.

The weight is lifted by pulling down on a bead cord. On release, the weight falls very slowly, transforming potential energy into kinetic energy as it powers a drive sprocket and polymer gear train.This generates just under a tenth of a watt, to power an onboard LED and ancillary devices.

Once the weighted bag reaches the floor, which depends on how high it was installed, it is simply lifted to repeat the process.

Mor than half of the $199,000 funding goal have been already raised on Indigogo in the first 10 days. There are still 31 days left. The GravityLamps will be assembled in Kenya, Africa and the first products will ship in September of 2016. The team behind GravityLight, The GravityLight Foundation is a registered UK charity.