Humans have powered things with gravity for thousands of years, but it’s never been used to create a personal light source. Until now.

Across the globe, it is estimated that 1.3 billion do not have access to electricity, and millions more have an unreliable supply. Many turn to kerosene to provide light with its inherent fire and fume risks in addition to expense. Now, thanks to the perseverance of a research and development team based in London, many communities are experiencing the benefit of this new form of clean, safe and reliable lighting.

The GravityLight generates LED light by means of a winch system, a generator and a 12kg weight bag. Crowd-funding from 6,219 supporters on Indiegogo and spring-board funding from Shell have made it possible to take a simple idea into local production, and GravityLight is now being trialled by 1,300 off-grid households in 26 countries.

Sources:

1. Shell.co.uk:
   How does it work? GravityLight.

2. The GravityLight Foundation:
   Gravity Light.