Mightylight Solar Light (or comparable product ?)

If you assume that a typical family uses about 1 liter of kerosene per week for lighting, that's about $50 per year. This light will pay for itself in a little over a year. After that it's a $5 battery change every two years or so. The savings are significant. Assuming the light is designed well and not abused it should last many many years. One also must assume that this light can be a family's sole light source (i.e. it outperforms a kerosene lantern in all applications). Surprisingly, I have not been able to find independent reviews of this light.

Also, if you look at the market prices for the individual components of this light system, you will see that it is quite reasonably priced (assuming they used decent quality parts). If these lights could be made available on a rent-to-own or similar basis, more people could acquire them.

All 1W LEDs are not created equal. The cheapest ones are only a couple times more efficient than incandescents while the best ones are about 7 times.

Anyone who has tried to read by candle or kerosene lantern knows how difficult it is and would I think greatly appreciate an LED lantern such as this one.

First, I agree it is a lot of money for your average Nicaraguan living in the middle of nowhere with no grid access. It is not likely they will put together the money to buy one. But, someone might give them one.

Is it a fair price? Yes. I don't know about RayOVac flashlights but to have a 1W light with 100 hours of life, you are talking a pretty big battery. If you assume 3.6V, that means over .25A/hour. 100 hours means over 25 ampere hours--well beyond the capacity of even D-size batteries. Now, what I do know about is that a non-focused 1W LED light costs about $8 in the US, $3 from the manufacturer in China plus shipping, duty, ... . A focused one (spot light) costs a bit more.

The regular one is not bright enough to read by but the spot is. Thus, the focus function of the light is important if you want to use it to read as well as a room light.

As for solar panels, the smallest I found was 5W (the one with the light is 2.5W). The 5W one costs $60. A 3.6V, 2.5Ah battery is just three typical AA-size NiMH batteries--cheap.

The three light levels seem important with the small battery and small solar panel. This means at least a bit of intelligence. They said "computer" which means a $1 chip. No biggie.

So, the price seems ok. The value is the final question. If someone lives in the middle of nowhere it is likely they won't "slip down to the store" and buy some batteries. Even if they can, they are going to be in the "food or light" mode.

government to tell the factories what to make and what prices to charge ? ;)

Or several, Carnegies, Buffets, and Gates subsidizing the prices to make them more affordable ?

-Doug

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate

Why would anyone pay $27 + shipping for 3x 1.2/2500mah NiMH batteries off ebay? You must not know what this is. I have to asume this, if you actually think they work to power camcorders. If your camcorder ever needs a backup power supply, you might want to take a pass on the little NiMH's that make the 3.6v pack, though it would be tempting to buy them since depending on where they are made and the markee on them, they can be less than $0.90 each (and even less to a distributor of a product using them).

Imagine you had a product and could sell it to third worlders with no money who couldn't read your magazine ads or view your internet site or watch your TV ads. OR you could sell it to gadget geeks who are easy to reach with promo material for 10 times the price. Bit of a no-brainer Daddy-Yo. If it has ads and a web site then it CANNOT be aimed at 3rd worlders.

There IS a solution for people living in the campo. Sunlight, trees, streams, beans and rice.

There is no recorded case of a country with a high birthrate and a high percentage of poor turning around the situation for the existing poor.

There are plenty of recorded instances of a country turning around after a birthrate drop and after the older generation have died off due to war, starvation, mass emigration, genocide, disease, old age.

There are also instances where the uber-priviledged have the veneer of a good society as they ride on the backs of the poor. That is, apparently, the present and future of Nicaragua.

proud prices. or does it pay for itself?

I am sure things have changed but when this outfit first started out the shipping costs from India were very high (didn't matter all that much if you bought 10 units or 100). I didn't know if that has changed. I suspected that having an official in-country distributor came with some reductions. The people in Mexico did not even know many details about the light, so I assume they were not distributed via some church group or non-profit organization. And, at the same time, they price they indicated seemed too low, so I though perhaps this was one of those programs where someone in a developed country buys one as a gift or donation, and the extra funds from their full-price payment is used to greatly lower the cost for a family buying one in a developing country. This is just a guess though. I tried to find a competing product and didn't have much success. Parts are readily available for most things, but it is the heavy-duty light that seems to set it apart.

DO they have a distributor? If so, whom? If not, when do you start and whats your terms and condition? Is there an opportunity for someone here? is it a worthwhile product, can you make your 1 watt LEDS into a competetive product that could be locally produced?