Photos: lighting up the developing world

The push for energy-efficient lighting in the developed world focuses on replacing wasteful incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents and LEDs. In developing regions, however, kerosene lanterns still bring dim night-time light to an estimated 1.6 billion people. But off-grid lighting is a growing area of focus for social entrepreneurs eyeing opportunities for 'green' technologies in developing markets.

Engineers, start-ups, non-profit groups, and venture capitalists are working on portable flashlights and fixtures powered by solar panels and even bicycle-like pedalling contraptions. Safe and affordable lighting can be key to development efforts in poor communities. With better light, people have more time to work and study, and hazards from kerosene diminish. Lighting innovations created for emerging markets are also bouncing back to the developed world. For a photo gallery of some of the products being built, click on.

Lighting Africa
This family in Ghana relies on kerosene to see at night, which leads to an untold number of fires and pollutes indoor air. People spend close to £20bn worldwide on kerosene each year -- which costs up to one-third of the income of some people in developing regions.

"It's a different world where we live when the sun goes down," says Lindsay Madeira, a projects officer at International Finance Corp. "In our culture, we're so used to just flicking the light on. For people who haven't had that, there's this whole other world, and there becomes so many extra hours in the day with better light."

Innovations in durable and energy-efficient lighting for rural regions could leapfrog back to the developing world. For instance, a lamp built to withstand years of extreme weather in sub-Saharan Africa could return in some form to Western markets for equipment for camping or natural disasters. Proposals for lights powered by the sun, fuel cells, or manual labour were among the entries in the World Bank Lighting Africa competition. On 16 May, winners received up to £100,000 each in the IFC-backed contest, held in Accra, Ghana. Awardees included G24 Innovations, which is building thin-film solar LED lights, as well as a team of Harvard students creating microbial fuel-cell-based lighting through Lebone Solutions.

Photo: The World Bank, International Finance and Lighting Africa

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