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U.S. students solve lighting issue for Philippines slums without power

Recycled plastic bottles filled with clean water, salt and bleach bring light to slums in the Philippines. This works when the sunlight is refracted by the water and intensified by the bleach, loQal.ph reports.Massachusetts Institute of Technology students designed and developed this easy-to-assemble daylight alternative offering up to 55 watts of light.

As of 2009, three million households outside Manila were without power. Even within the city, many families survive without electricity or stay at risk of fire from faulty electrical connections. In crowded slum neighbourhoods, homes often have little direct access to sunlight and remain darkened all day and night.

At least 10,000 solar bottle bulbs have been installed so far. The sustainable lighting project called Isang Litrong Liwanag (translation: "A Litre of Light") is now championed by the MyShelter Foundation, which aims "to brighten up one million homes in the Philippines by 2012."