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Stanford Business magazine

 

Spreadsheet

It’s Cheap, It’s Small, It Has a Bright Future

Forever-BrightA little LED light can go a long way. That’s what business and engineering students learned in a Social Entrepreneurship Startup course four years ago when they designed a solar-powered lamp that greatly improved the quality of life for those relying solely on kerosene lamps. But the technology didn’t come cheap.

Students in a subsequent Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability class took that model back to the drawing board, realizing the need for a low-cost unit that would power not only lights, but radios, fans, and telephones. They came up with the $10  Forever-Bright, a rechargeable light and power source aimed at replacing dangerous and costly kerosene lamps as well as powering other devices.

“Our proprietary circuitry allows us to meet the needs of the 1.6 billion people who rely exclusively on lanterns. Our LEDs are five times brighter than a kerosene lantern and customers only have to spend 10–25 cents once every few weeks to charge the Forever-Bright,” said Sam Goldman, MBA ’07, and CEO of d.light design, a company formed as a result of the Entrepreneurial Design class. “It is terrible that these rural families and residents of urban slums who earn $1–$2 per day have to spend 15–30 cents of that for kerosene alone. Our mission is to make kerosene lanterns a part of history, where they belong.”

The Forever-Bright can be plugged into a communal generator or electrical outlet, or can be recharged by a $4 solar add-on. “The Forever-Bright will pay for itself in only 3-4 months on kerosene savings alone,” Goldman said, “However, there still needs to be some financial assistance for the very poorest clients, and we are currently working with regional microfinance institutions that can offer credit to these customers.”