Little Sun

Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson has developed Little Sun, a small, yellow solar-powered lantern, in collaboration with entrepreneur Frederik Ottesen. The simple plastic lamp, shaped like a toy sun, features an LED light, a rechargeable AA battery and a mono-crystalline solar panel, with an optimized airflow to allow for cooling and better performance.

Presented as part of the DLD Conference in Munich, the hand-sized device proposes to improve access to light and electricity to small, rural communities which are not built on an electric grid. Its objectives resonate with the World Bank's key goals of improving energy access, replacing the more common kerosene with solar-powered lighting; thus seeking to studying conditions for children, lessening the chance of kerosene fires, reducing spending on kerosene, lowering health risks, and decreasing air pollution.

Little Sun seeks distribution in sub-Saharan Africa, where 2.5 million people live in areas without electricity. The lamp delivers ten times more light at a tenth of the cost of the most common wick-based lantern, and could provide an affordable, off-the-grid alternative to lighting.

The lantern is small and lightweight. Its "wearable design" allows you to have the lamp with you at all times; Little Sun can be carried in the hand, worn, or attached to a bicycle. It can be hung on the wall or from the ceiling, used as a desk lamp, or mounted in any other way. Little Sun supplies light for reading, studying, cooking, and working — indoors and out.

Little Sun Gmbh was founded and is owned by Frederik Ottesen and Olafur Eliasson. Eliasson also plans to expand his research into a few more solar products, including a cell phone charger and radio.