The Solar Light Tube project combined two of my passions – the environment and product design – to produce a product to serve the community. It started when my friend and I entered the Dr. Siva Kumari Innovators’ Grant to “Design a Social Impact Initiative” to represent our school.

When visiting schools in under-resourced areas in Jordan, we were immediately struck by students learning in darkness due to the prohibitive costs of light bulbs and electricity. We decided to address this issue by developing a product that would take advantage of Jordan’s strong sunshine, clear skies, and long daylight hours. Our solution was cost-effective, eco-friendly, and sustainable – the Solar Light Tube.

The light tube consists of a dome that catches the sunlight and refracts the rays down a rigid metal tube where it shines onto a diffusing lens and allows the room to be lit up. Many of the schools in the governorates in Jordan, and even in the capital, Amman, are one-story buildings, making it easy to implement the Solar Light Tube by carving a hole in the ceiling and mounting the tube through it to the roof. Aside from being cost-effective and using clean and sustainable energy, the light tube would provide awareness for the local community about environmental issues and expose them to solutions.

My partner and I reached the semi finalist stage of the competition, but didn’t receive the grant. However, I felt strongly that the Solar Light Tube could have a real impact on children’s learning. So, we decided to continue this project independently. We secured funding and began the development process. We researched international lux (recommended light) levels for classrooms and measured the lux provided from the tube throughout different times of day, ensuring our product met all the requirements.

We then consulted engineers and experts to design and test numerous prototypes. Finally, we created a test environment and installed the final prototype.