Grassroots Movement Providing Solar Lighting to Communities Around the World – Liter of Light

Liter of Light is a global, grassroots movement that uses inexpensive, readily available materials to provide high quality solar lighting to people with limited or no access to electricity.  

Liter of light started out after a typhoon hit the Philippines and wiped out schools and infrastructure. It would take over a year for rural areas to have light and power. 

Illac Diaz learned a Brazilian approach to lighting in rural and poor neighborhoods and expanded it. He introduced the Liter of Light by using a simple circuit, LED light, a solar panel and a plastic bottle with water. The simple circuit is made to automatically trigger the illumination of houses at night.

Through a network of partnerships around the world, Liter of Light volunteers teach marginalized communities how to use recycled plastic bottles and locally sourced materials to illuminate their homes, businesses, and streets. 

The system is designed so that local people can earn income by collecting bottles, setting up the Bottle of Light, and installing them in households. Liter of Light has installed more than 350,000 bottle lights in more than 15 countries and taught green skills to empower grassroots entrepreneurs including many women’s collectives.

The Liter of Light’s open-source technology has won many international awards and has been recognized by the United Nations and adopted for use in some United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees camps.