About two years back in this IEEE Spectrum Article (“Lighting Up the Andes“) I read about how a Canadian couple is lighting up remote villages in Bolivia (South America) using white LEDs & solar panels. Mission was simple, to free remote communities from reliance on costly kerosene lighting. The solution was to have LEDs – Light Emitting Diodes, the tiny bulb thing that you see in your electronic devices and Traffic Signals. The LEDs were powered by simple Solar Cell Panels. The beauty of their scheme is that they devised a small volunteer operation that blends tourism and charity.
(Courtesy: IEEE Spectrum)
I was touched by their thought for their technology innovation as well (read the full article here). The operation, called Luxtreks, has now installed lighting systems in Bolivia, Guatemala, Peru, and Pakistan without taking a dime of government money.
I missed to blog about it then, but was reminded this week when my uncle gave me a book “How to Change the World”.