Let there be light

More than a dozen Lilly South Africa employees installed soda bottle lights in 55 houses in Zandspruit on 2 October.

Using just water mixed with bleach, and installing it through a drilled hole in the corrugated sheet roof of the shacks, the sun illuminates an entire room.

This is done by the use of solar energy to transmit light through the water. Although it is during the day, the shacks are pitch dark inside because they are built just centimetres away from one another, allowing minimal daylight to shine through the structures.

The initiative, which will provide light to 100 houses in Zandspruit, and the easy-to-use method ensures that residents can maintain the lighting themselves.

Lilly spokesperson Ann-Marie Hosang-Archer said, “This initiative is based on the idea of impacting people’s lives and it provides light inside the dwellings, and reduces the danger of potential fires and paraffin fumes”. (Watch Video)

Nosiphiwo Maphongowana was the first resident whose house was installed with the power of light and the house glowed with natural luminance.

“I am very happy with the new lights. Now, I will be able to see inside my house during the day. My child often cries because she can’t see anything when we are indoors,” Maphongowana said.

“So many shacks have burned down in the area because we use candles just to do simple things around the house,” she added.

The soda bottle light could help reduce shack fires and deaths, which are sometimes caused by candle,s and would make school work and house chores easier to do.

The system has been tested against thunder storms and rainy weather to ensure its longevity, and the bleach is used to prevent mould in the water.