A Liter of Light

San Pedro, Laguna – Hundreds of families will never have to live in the dark again.

Socio-civic organization MyShelter Foundation, with Rotary Club International District 3820, has recently unveiled the solar bottle-lit homes in Sitio Maligaya 1 – one of the depressed communities in San Pedro, Laguna. Together with Rotary Club International District 3820 officials District Governor Fortunato Dimayuga and Deputy Governor Jun Mendoza, San Pedro vice mayor Norvic Solidum, and Barangay Chairman Allan Villena, Illac Diaz, Executive Director of MyShelter Foundation, presented the 400-plus houses installed with the solar bottle bulbs.

“Access to energy is a great social divider among Filipinos,” says Diaz. “But through the solar bottle project which plans to brighten up a million households in the Philippines by 2012, we hope to democratize light energy and provide light to our fellowmen.”

A simple device made from a PET bottle filled with a chemical solution, the ecologically- and economically-sustainable solar bottle is the brainchild of students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), based on the principles of Appropriate Technologies – a concept that provides simple and easily replicable technologies that address basic needs in developing communities.

The Solar Bottle Project plans to introduce the solar bottle to houses in Pasay City next.

(Left to Right) Rotary International District 3820 Deputy Governor Jun Mendoza and District Governor Fortunato “Tayo” Dimayuga, MyShelter Foundation Executive Director Illac Diaz and Vice Mayor Norvic Solidum of San Pedro, Laguna welcomed everyone at the Baranggay Hall Satellite Office in Pacita Complex 1 before heading to Sitio Maligaya 1 for the unveiling of the 400+ Solar Bulb installations.