Solar Lantern Project: February 2008

These are closeups of some of the different lantern designs that were distributed in Ghana this January. Below each photo is the lantern ID, and the name of the designer.

Blue#1
Dave Berger
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Blue#1
Dave Berger

The shadows cast inside the diffuser are from the heads of the screws that fasten the LED in place; among other issues, this is being addressed in the next design phase.

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Red#2
Nick Wong

This plastic box was originally a container for dry-seaweed, bought from the local Japanese supermarket. This was the first of the "final" lanterns that we built for the January trip to Ghana. The box happened to be just the right size to fit the battery; the square shape made it easy to mount the sheet metal control panel. This gooseneck was salvaged from an old desklamp, but in Red#1 (sorry, no photo yet), the gooseneck was homemade using flexible tubing and romex.

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Blue#1,#2,#4
Dave Berger

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Blue#4
Dave Berger

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Blue#3
Allan Ho

The black rubber tube coming out the side is a flexible handle (not wings).

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For more information, please contact Professor Toby Cumberbatch of Cooper Union:
tcumberbatch (at) mac.com

Prof. Cumberbatch's trip to Ghana this January was a huge success. The charging station installation from last summer is still intact, and the villagers are taking excellent care of the equipment.

The three lanterns delivered by Dave Berger and Yoorhim Choi in the Summer of 2007 are still working, and being shared by all 300 villagers! Prof. Cumberbatch delivered seven new and improved lanterns (see descriptions and photos in previous post).

Sorry for the delay in posting these photos from Professor Cumberbatch's trip. More photos to follow soon!

The charging station with some new equipment installed by
Prof. Cumberbatch and the Nambeg villagers this January.

From left to right: the wooden box with the "caution" sticker is the power distribution box (installed last summer, along with the solar panels and the car battery). The large black cables coming into this box are from the solar panels (on the roof) and the "Hankook" car battery sitting on the table. The three new lanterns sitting on this box are being charged up. The three lanterns sitting on the other side of the table are the old prototype from last summer. Lastly, the charging circuits are sitting next to the old lanterns, but are hidden from view by the car battery.

In all of the following photos, the lighting in the "well-lit" version is from the camera flash. The lighting in the dimly lit versions is from the lantern only.