Philips creates solar-powered reading light

‘My reading light' provides LED lighting distributed along a patented anti-scratch coated perspex sheet. According to Philips, "It is extremely lightweight and can be held or placed over the page of a book, allowing the user to read or write." ‘My reading light' has a built in rechargeable battery, which provides between 3.5 and 9 hours of light depending on the light level selected. There is a choice of high/middle/low dimming settings.

In addition to the main reading light a slimmed down version is also being developed with a target consumer price of less than US$15.

These developments according to Philips, are part of its "commitment both to developing sustainable lighting solutions for Africa and to its partnership with the Dutch government on the ‘Sustainable Energy Solutions for Africa' (SESA) project which aims to provide 10m people with affordable, appropriate and sustainable energy services in ten sub-Saharan African countries by 2015."

SESA links with existing UN projects to help provide sustainable lighting, cooking and water purification in sub-Saharan Africa.

Philips is also involved in the World Bank Group initiative to provide modern lighting to 500 million people in sub-Saharan Africa who have no access to electricity. Jointly managed by the World Bank and IFC, Lighting Africa aims to develop market conditions for the supply and distribution of new, non-fossil fuel lighting products, such as compact fluorescent light bulbs and light emitting diodes, in rural and urban areas of the region that are not connected to the electricity grid.