Biolight microbial fuel cell powered lights

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Biolight(microbial fuel cell powered lights)
biolight_at_mit.edu
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Our Team

• Deepa Dubey architect industrial design
  student (IIT kanpur)
• Amit Gandhi mechanical engineering student
  (Caltech)
• Sham Tembo electrical engineer (UNZA)
• Jessica Vechakul mechanical engineer (MIT)
• Jesse Austin-Breneman mechanical engineer
  (MIT)
• Dennis Nagle (mentor) everything engineer

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Problem

• Fuel (eg. kerosene) is usually expensive or
  unavailable in rural areas, but people need light
  to do productive activities at night.

Our Approach
To design a lantern or flashlight powered by
microbial fuel cells that only need free, locally
available organic materials.
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Benefit

• Light for cooking, economic activity, reading,
  etc.
• Low capital cost.
• No fuel cost.
• Environmentally friendly.
• Potentially locally-produced -gt micro-enterprise
  opportunity

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Market Scalability

• Applications for developing as well as developed
  countries.
• Can replace more expensive forms of lighting.
• Usable wherever there is dirt.
• Can be mass-produced.
• Portable so can be disseminated easily.
• Lantern can be the first of many microbial fuel
  cell applications.

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Goals for Summit

• Design and build prototype of either a lamp or
  flashlight powered by MFCs for use in villages.
• Develop a comprehensive maintenance manual and
  user surveys.
• Deploy a few samples of the prototype with IDDS
  participants to gather feedback.
• Develop a business model for dissemination.

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Questions ?
Questions ?
Questions ?
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Design Requirements

• Cost
• Must lt10, Great if lt5
• Light
• Must be enough to read
• Great if lights room 10ft x 10ft
• Functional time
• Must light continuously for 4 hours
• Lifetime
• Must last at least 1 year

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Design Requirements

• Misuse
• Must be functional after being knocked over
• Acceptability
• Intuitive to use and familiar interface
• Repair
• Should be modular to be easier to replace or
  repair
• Weight
• Must be lt2.2kg