As many as 200 'Little Sun' lamps have been put on display at a three-day exhibition, which began here yesterday at Mehrangarh Fort, and will be distributed among villagers in rural areas at the end of it.
Little Sun is a solar-powered hand-held lamp in the shape of a sun with a shelf life of three years. It emits light for five hours after being exposed in the sun for the same amount of time.
The lamps have been created over a period of three years by Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, who is now taking them to off-the-grid areas of the world to illuminate them up with solar-powered light.
"The Little Sun launch in Jodhpur is the first step in a collaborated plan of distributing Little Suns to remote communities in the state of Rajasthan and India," Jasol said.
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After the exhibition, these lamps will be distributed in remote villages and institutions in Rajasthan through CSR departments of various companies, he said adding that each lamp has been provided for the purpose at a subsidised rate of 11 USD (Rs 595.8).
"IIT-Jodhpur and energy companies working in Rajasthan like Cairn India and Suzlon have evinced great interest in this feat," he said.
IIT-J will be collaborating with the project as a technological partner and will work on developing a cheaper option with higher efficiency, whereas Cairn India and Suzlon have agreed to purchase it at subsidised rates and distribute them in villages as a part of their CSR activities.
Plans are also afoot to make these suns available on the village shops, making them accessible to villagers for direct purchase, Jasol said.