Kinkajou Solar Projectors

Here’s a cool application of solar technologies being used for poor rural and off the grid situations. The Kinkajou Solar Projector is just that, a projector, but this one uses super-bright white LED for illumination through microfilm materials. It can powered by energy stored from a solar panel. All providing a cheap educational tool for under-developed communities around the world.

The Kinkajou project was originally an assignment for some classes at MIT but now the organization Design That Matters has taken it over with funding help from USAID and World Education. The group is presently testing 45 of the units in village schools in Mali and Bangladesh in adult literacy, HIV awareness and basic education classes.

One of the things I think is really cool about this project is how they’re using micro-film for the content distribution. You can fit an entire basic education cirriculum on to a few spools of micro-film, it’s way cheaper than trying to use a digital format and less prone to decay than a printed solution. Neat!

The project team for Kinkjou have got a very extensive journal/blog on the go detailing their work which you can find here – Kinkajou Design Journal.

[via WorldChanging]