| Lighting appears to he the most sought-after application when solar electricity first reaches a remote village. Solar lanterns increase living standards, enhance education, provide extra time for productive work during the night, initiate rural development and improve health compared to kerosene lanterns. This thesis begins with the gathering of research findings based on solar lanterns and rural lighting as well as the component selections of a new solar lantern design that would improve the quality of light and enhance performance to meet end-user requirements on area and reading lighting. Experiments on four commercial lanterns generated data on the light output, charging and discharging performance. A prototype was designed and fabricated based on the selections and commercial availability of the components. The results from prototype testing show that the new design meets most of the user requirements and improves the light quality compared to the four tested lanterns. The thesis also provides an overview of new technologies: ultracapacitors, light emitting diodes, and dye-sensitized solar modules. |
