British industrial design company Therefore have developed LED-powered GravityLight, to ensure the world’s developing countries have access to affordable and safe lighting.

The GravityLight was designed by Therefore directors Martin Riddiford and Jim Reeves. And it is designed to be suspended from a ceiling or wall in a home. Using a nine-kilogram bag of sand or rocks, a piece of rope can be pulled through a mechanism which generates electricity.  The LED light works on the gravitational pull from the lamp and once the bag of sand is pulled; a three second pull which lifts the bag is enough to generate 30 minutes of electricity.

One thousand GravityLights have been manufactured to be distributed to villagers in Africa and India, where they will undergo a trial run, after which any necessary improvements will be made. When mass-produced, the GravityLight is expected to cost roughly five US dollars per unit to manufacture.

As fuel is not needed to power the GravityLight, this frees up more money for families and communities. This could potentially allow these communities to invest in solar power technology in the future. Batteries would, however, be needed to store energy captured from solar technology, which can be costly as the batteries will need to be replaced every few years.

The company is currently pursuing donations for the development and mass production of the GravityLight through the crowd funding site Indiegogo. Individuals and corporations are able to donate money and there are opportunities for investing.

After distribution in Africa and India, follow-up research allow for a refining of the product’s design to help boost the GravityLight’s efficiency.