Manchester design firm launches ‘world’s most affordable solar lamp’

A Manchester-based design consultancy founded by two young entrepreneurs has teamed up with a giant Chinese manufacturer to produce what they claim is the world’s most affordable solar lamp.

Their company inventid has designed the SM100 solar light which is being sold for the equivalent of £3.85 in African countries.

It has been developed in partnership with Chinese company Yingli and the Solar Aid charity.

The hand-sized lamp was trialled with 9,000 families in three African countries, Malawi, Uganda and Zambia and is now on sale.

It runs for eight hours when fully charged.

The foundations for the SM100 design project were laid when inventid co-founder Henry James was on a design degree course at Leeds University in 2007, where he worked alongside SolarAid on a separate design challenge.

He and fellow former Leeds University design degree student Bryn Morgan went on to establish inventid together in Manchester in 2012. Design work was finished on the SM100 solar light prototype in 2015, with delivery of the first product batch of SM100 solar lights completed in autumn 2016.

James said: “SolarAid calculated that selling the solar light at a level of US$5 would bring the maximum benefit to the highest number of people, drastically reducing their monthly fuel bills and empowering them to lead better lives.

“By examining the many conflicting factors in a complicated problem like this, we were able to develop the best possible light for people at a more affordable price point.”

inventid drew on Yingi’s manufacturing expertise to reduce costs and SolarAid and SunnyMoney’s intricate knowledge of the solar market, the charity having sold more than 1.9 million solar lights in Africa.

“The design process that made the SM100 solar light a success is representative of the philosophy that informs all of inventid’s work,” Morgan explained.

He said: “Conducting research for the SM100 light in conjunction with Yingli Europe and SolarAid meant that we were able to design a product that is both viable and makes sense to people. We are incredibly proud that our light has the potential to provide millions of people with a brighter future.

“This level of understanding underpins all of the work that inventid does and enables our team to design products that bring positive change for their end users.”

SolarAid’s Oliver Sylvester-Bradley said: “The SM100, developed for SolarAid in conjunction with Yingli Europe and UK industrial design firm inventid, incorporates feedback collected from SolarAid’s decade of experience of selling solar in Africa and has now been trialled in Malawi, Uganda and Zambia, with extremely positive feedback.”

Carolin Stähler, solar light project director at Yingli Europe, said: “We are pleased to have found a strong partner in inventid to develop and design the SM100 solar light  – a product of highest quality made for the people most in need living off the grid in Africa.

“In particular, inventid’s in-depth competence of creating impact by design and experience in the area of customer-driven innovation processes convinced us to team up and develop the most affordable entry-level light together.”