Water Bulb !

An amazing idea, which can light up millions of houses across the world. Something very simple and very basic but powerful and innovative.

I have seen houses (including my own rented house in early childhood) where some kind of light is required even in the day time. Its because Either the House is not constructed properly (my case) or too much of congestion in the neighbourhood preventing the sunlight to enter. To make matter worse especially for the Urban poor living in slums, the electricity connection is either not available at all or its kind of illegal, hence unreliable and unsafe.

During our childhood, I used to read Hindi Comics in which if somebody gets some really crack-nut kind of idea, it was depicted by a Bulb. And yes, the bulb it is, this time in real life !

A Water Bulb !

An amazing concept to harness the energy using two of the most powerful elements in nature - Water and Sun. The idea is so simple that sometimes I wonder how come nobody thought it before in past 2000 years! But as they say, better late than never. So as you can see for yourself in the video below how it works -

Pretty simple, isnt it !

These water bulbs can be used only during the day light. Unlike Solar cells, the Water bulbs cant store and reuse energy at some other time and place. Some of us might not like these water bulbs from aesthetic point of view but I think its a least cause of concern. If not fitted properly these water bulbs can cause water leakages during the rainy season. But since these Water Bulbs are easy to install, maintain and practically of zero cost, the advantages far outweighs the minor disadvantages and limitations.

This bulb was originally developed by some students at MIT has been successfully implemented in Philippines by eco-Entrepreneur IIlac Diaz under the aptly named project - A Liter of Light !

The Hidden Advantages - lack of proper lighting inside the house has far reaching affects not only on the ambiance but psychology of those living in lowly illuminated houses. Absence of light encourages rodents and mosquitoes and other insects, which we might consider a trivial issues. But the mere presence and sounds made by all these Life forms (who by the way also have equal right to live) can be haunting and depressing at times. The darkness inside the houses can also lead to random accidents thus adding to agony and pain.

By implementing this solution at a large scale, government and private operators engaged in Transmission & Distribution of electricity can save a lot, thus directly adding to their bottomline. A zero carbon foot print ensure that no further damage is caused to environment unlike all other sources of electricity.

Sometimes the solutions to most challenging problems lies in thinking simple and that what Water Bulb is all about. Incredible, Innovative, Impelling !