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Blog: Kopernik in Action
Saving Money, Changing Lives

By: Denise Law
On top of replacing the dim light and noxious fumes of a kerosene lantern, another benefit of using a solar light is that it eliminates the burden of buying kerosene each week.. We have seen that families in rural western Kenya, while rarely making more than a couple thousand Kenyan shillings (KSH) per week, spend anything between 200 KSH to 1000 KSH (US$2.40 to US$11.90) per week on kerosene (or paraffin, as it is called Kenya) . Moreover, they often invest considerable time in buying the fuel - kerosene is not usually available in the villages, meaning that people have to...
  Moon Light solar light in Alor
'Allo Alor

By: Lincoln Rajali Sihotang
Last December, I wrote about starting a new project in Lakwati village on Alor Island, Indonesia. Working with Topa Haliel Savings and Loans Group, we introduced various solar lights, fuel-efficient cookstoves, and water filters and purifiers to get feedback, find out how much people were willing to pay for them, and work out the most effective ways of getting these technologies into the hands of the people who need them. I am very happy to update you on the progress of this project. Reaching the last mileAfter assessing the water and energy needs in the village, Iman, Deni and I...
  Cooking by candlelight
Cooking by candlelight

By: Denise Law
1h13min. As I hover the cursor above the battery icon on the lower right hand corner of my laptop screen, a little window pops up to tell me that this is how much longer my laptop will last. I think I should be able to type up this blog entry within this time. Since I have time to spare, I get up and head to the window sill, where I unplug the d.light solar lantern from the solar panel. Setting the lantern on the table, I can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief: fortunately, my local housemate remembered to charge the solar lantern before he went away for the weekend. I was caught...
Fighting Fire with the Power of the Sun

By: Karyn Boenker
At least 1.3 billion people rely solely on dangerous and dirty kerosene lanterns for light, according to World Energy Outlook 2011 estimates. When the number of people with unreliable access to electricity is factored in, d.light calculates up to to 3 billion people around the world use kerosene for lighting. Any way you cut it, a frightening number of people still rely on this 19th century technology. Emilita Soares Lopes is 15 years old and has no access to electricity. She lives in a small commune on Atauro Island, Timor-Leste, together with 30 other high school students. They live...
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