Little Sun° – the Sustainable, Affordable & Solar-powered LED lantern

Little Sun° Lantern is a solar powered LED light designed to provide an affordable healthy light source and help to improve the quality of life of people living in third world countries. The lantern is a joint project between by world-renowned artist, Olafur Eliasson and entrepreneur/innovative thinker, Frederik Ottesen.

The lamp is based on a new and advanced LED technology and the lantern will be able to provide up to 5 hours of light by charging for 4 hours. It will provide a much needed light source where it normally wouldn’t be possible or where the light most often would come from burning kerosene, therefore also be health-damaging, highly flammable, polluting and more expensive.

People across Asia, Africa, and South America live without direct access to electricity. They rely on other fuels, such as kerosene, for lighting. Despite efforts to bring electricity to areas without it, the number of people in sub-Saharan Africa with no access to mains electricity continues to grow.

Replacing kerosene with solar-powered lighting, a key goal of the World Bank’s efforts to improve energy access, improves studying conditions for children, lessens the chance of kerosene fires, reduces spending on kerosene, lowers health risks, and decreases air pollution.

Charging the LittleSun° Lantern during the day gives enough light during the evening and early morning for a child to study, an adult to work, prepare a meal, or perform other activities. The construction and components will allow continual use and charging for at least three years. It has an energy-efficient design that will keep the battery from overheating, and give the maximum light output. The lantern has been designed in a versatile shape so it can be used as a table or pendant lamp or as a hand-held lantern depending on the needs of its users.

The Little Sun Lantern will be released in the summer 2012. It is also the first product by LittleSun° GmbH – Founded and owned by Frederik Ottesen and Olafur Eliasson, the company’s goal is to create products that bring customers out of energy poverty. Next on the drafting table for LittleSun: a solar-powered battery, radio, phone charger, and a larger light…

Read more about the lantern and coming products on littlesun.com

(Photographs by Olafur Eliasson, Frederik Ottesen, and Maddalena Valeri.)