Plastic bottles used to provide more light

Who would have thought that the ordinary, transparent plastic bottle that you hold in your hand could actually be used to brighten up your home in the event of a power cut? That’s exactly what happened nearly a decade back where an enterprising mind from the Uberaba region in the outskirts of Minas Gerais, Brazil, discovered a way to keep the house lighted during the day thanks to plastic bottles filled with water and a bit of bleach. When inlaid in corrugated iron roofs, the bottles concentrate and transport sunlight generating light that is roughly the equivalent to a 40 to 60 watt light bulb.

The whole idea behidn this is to help out low-income areas during the day so that even then, one is able to read and see clearly in the house without pacing up and down, waiting for the generator to start kicking around again. Of course, it would be a whole lot better if there was an invention which works at night, storing up energy during the day, and we believe that that is called solar power.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Green, Home
Tags: plastic