Our SM100 solar lights have reached hundreds of families in the Philippines, to give them reliable solar light through the typhoon season, which can cause power shortages and blackouts.

In the Philippine province of La Union, typhoon season has arrived. Throughout August, heavy thunderstorms are common and can knock out unreliable grid power or cause intermittent energy service. This leaves people in the dark with no way of knowing when their lights will come back on. That’s why we teamed up with non-profit One Million Lights Philippines to distribute our solar lights just in time to give these island families a reliable light through the storms and blackouts.

One Million Lights Philippines have distributed over 11,000 lights to over 60,000 Filipinos in more than 50 communities around the country. This latest shipment of our award-winning SM100 solar lights reached residents of Purok 3 and Casilagan districts.

The lights give families a reliable, all-purpose light they can use while at home for

household chores, reading, studying or traveling safely after dark.

Photos by @gabmejia and @issabarte.art

In addition to clean light, Filipinos also save money on the cost of candles or kerosene for lamps used as a back-up light during the notorious typhoon season.

One Million Lights Philippines impact report states:

“We have come to understand that light is an invaluable resource in daily life; we view it not as an end, but as a means of uplifting Filipino families. Light can be used to enable livelihood by helping fisherfolk in coastal communities. It can help improve education by enabling children study even during the evening. Furthermore, light can be used to alleviate poverty by allowing families to save the money that would have otherwise been used for purchasing kerosene fuel.”

Our solar lights come with a detachable head strap. This transforms them into a multifunctional head torch. In the Philippines, they are also being used by local turtle patrols to help find sea turtle nests in the dark as part of local conservation efforts.

More than 350 families in the remote, coastal areas of San Juan, Bacnotan and San Gabriel areas have received their solar light. They now have life-changing free, renewable solar light.