Most of you probably remember the one laptop per child program where for $400 you could give one to a developing country and get one for yourself? Well for a lot of us folks on a limited budget that was just too much money to help out as much as we would have liked having a new laptop to play with and one given away in our name. For a much more affordable way ($50) to help out those in developing countries, or even our own troops, SunNight Solar has come up with a buy one give one (BOGO) program to help provide a free source of light to impoverished people.
Many people in the developing world don’t have electricity to light their homes and have to spend a lot of their resources on lighting solutions such as kerosene lanterns, candles, and flashlights. SunNight Solar has come up with a flashlight / lantern that is powered by the sun and basically provides free light. Their goal is to give as many of these flashlights away to as many people in need as possible and they have given us an easy way to help them with their goal. For about $50 you can buy one for yourself and give one to an organization of your choice including troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their founder Mark Bent an ex-marine started SunNight after spending many years in Africa and seeing how providing a free lighting source would be helpful to so many people. Mark being a man of action decided to found SunNight to help address this important need.
Being a bit of a gadget geek I was happy to see a package at my door the other day with one of these solar powered flashlights in it and who doesn’t enjoy a new toy to play with? I had forgotten that a few months back I signed up to get one of these to test out. The flashlight itself is very light and easy to handle, and although it’s not that small it’s thin enough to easily fit in a pocket. Its six LEDs make for a nice spotlight and easily illuminates the path ahead of you. To conserve on battery power you can turn it down to lower levels of light which give plenty of light to get around in the dark. There is even a lantern mode where it gives off a broad amount of light instead of a focused spot like in the flashlight mode. In this mode it gives off plenty of light to illuminate a small room for many hours. I’ve had mine on for four hours now in the medium lantern setting and it is still going on strong. I have no doubt that it will easily go for the 5 hours that SunNight claims.
The great thing about these flashlights is that you don’t have to worry about buying batteries or remembering to charge them. You just store it in a well lit spot and you will always have a charged flashlight. This is a pretty good solution to give people some light to enable them to get around at night for free. For two years at least, after that they’ll need to replace the batteries.
If you are interested in getting yourself one of these flashlights and giving one away head over to SunNight’s BOGO site. The hardest part is deciding what group to give a free flashlight to.
Watch this news report about Mark Bent and SunNight Solar.
Watch this Video about how SunNight Solar’s flashlight works.
James Towner | Posted in 
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September 30th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
These are awesome. I want one.
October 1st, 2008 at 3:47 am
Solar flashlights providing free light to those in need. | nerdd.net…
\r\nThese nifty flashlights charge in the sunlight and then work for 5+ hours of continuous light af…
October 1st, 2008 at 7:28 am
What a fabulous idea! I submitted your post to Reddit and Dugg it as well. ~ Daryl
October 1st, 2008 at 8:38 am
Coleman lamps sell a windup LED lantern that retails at $22 or less at Canadian tire stores.
Wind up flash lights that all my warehouse workers have cost me $5 each. I use a windup in my bedroom after my wife knocked over the old lamp and scattered glass on floor.
New LED Colman lamp could be kicked like a football and still work.Solar cells are exspensive and easy to damage.
Farking Retarded waste of money.
October 1st, 2008 at 9:02 am
Bless their hearts! It is so refrshing to see that there are still people out there who care.
JIff
http://www.privacy.es.tc
October 1st, 2008 at 9:23 am
What a brilliant idea, although I note the comments elsewhere. Maybe they would be more suitable for older or impaired people or children
October 1st, 2008 at 9:29 am
This is a nice idea in theory.
How ever a hell of a lot more economical and useful solution is available. WIND UP LED flashlights.
guess what they don’t need sun to charge and cost a hell of a lot less.
they can be used in pure darkness and can work for as long as you want in the dark. all you have to do is turn a handle for a short bit.
great for leaving in your bed stand or coffee table for emergencies and great for fending off darkness.
October 1st, 2008 at 9:38 am
$50?!?!? This has to be a for profit enterprise. I’m sure they are made in China for maybe $5 each, probably less.
October 1st, 2008 at 9:54 am
I’ve got one, they’re pretty cool. I just leave it on my dash during the day and it’s ready to go when I need it.
October 1st, 2008 at 10:51 am
Lame. Those flashlights that you shake or turn a crank to charge are way better. This is not innovation, this is someone being way to impressed with solar cells. What do you do when it runs out at night? Oops, it needs the sun.
October 1st, 2008 at 11:05 am
This sounds like a for profit enterprise using a disingenuous marketing program. We will donate one to a charity… if you buy it at full retail price.
October 1st, 2008 at 1:31 pm
The crank flashlights have moving parts and likely won’t last as long as the no-moving-part solar cells.
Give one village the crank lights and one the solar lights and see who’s still work in five years.
October 1st, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Even that man needs to make something for himself to survive, after all he is putting so much energy in it. He has a website, phone, electricity, computers, printing, advertising etc cost to look into. So if he makes a dollar or two, it’s ok. I apprecaite that he has used his idea to distribute light to so many people. I was born in a house where we lived with kerosene lamps and every morning we got up, our noses were filled with black sooth. Now pregnant moms or moms in labor can have light in their village house or people who have no bathroom, can take the light and go into the bush for pee without being bit by a snake.
It is a noble idea, please support him. If you were born in Haiti, you would want a person like him.
October 1st, 2008 at 3:35 pm
thanks for the information here, interesting stuff. : )
October 1st, 2008 at 3:57 pm
I swear this used to on a joke list of Irish inventions, along with the submarine screen door.
October 1st, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Dear All,
Thanks for the comments on my products - even the more colorful ones.
We looked at cranks - two problems, no one likes cranking on a regular basis - trust me, if this is your only light source every night - it gets old fast, and friction causes wear and tear, so they break.
More factual information on off-grid lighting from my partners at International Finance Corporation - http://www.lightingafrica.org and on a DOE website - http://light.lbl.gov/
And, as I noted on my blog on my website - things cost what they cost - and no, they sure do not cost me $5 to make - sure wish they did.
Best regards,
Mark
October 1st, 2008 at 7:48 pm
@Lumpy and Cody: You miss one of the main points. Other than the switch, there are no moving part on the Bogolight. Crank lights, as cool as they can be, are useless when the spring pops, and anyone who has over-pulled the recoil starter on a lawn mower knows this.
I own 2 Bogolights, use them all the time, and am happy that somewhere in Africa 2 families have the opportunity for light at night when they may not have had it before. Sure, it doesn’t fix all the world’s problems, but y’know what? You gotta start somewhere. This is an excellent place to start.
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:08 am
Such a simple but useful idea.
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:32 pm
this is amazing, solar technology is way more capable for powering the earth than your fossil fuels or cranking flashlights. it may be more expensive now, but you are investing in a resourceful way to power our world and save our ecosystem.
please be more considerate to making a difference to our world.
October 12th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
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November 10th, 2008 at 2:27 am
bought two of these solar flashlights, inexplicably both are not working after 2 months. No heavy use at all, just mostly sat on my shelf. When I get some extra time I plan to return them.
nate