Refugee camp lighting: solar solutions for safety and schooling
Refugee camp lighting needs to support everyday life after sunset: studying, preparing meals, caring for children and moving around a settlement. For NGOs and charities, choosing solar lighting starts with understanding these activities and specifying equipment that can reliably support them.
Portable solar lamps can meet household lighting needs, while communal spaces require their own lighting plans. Procurement teams should consider both, working with residents and programme colleagues to define the right combination of performance, usability and long-term support.
Why lighting belongs in humanitarian response planning
UNHCR, The UN Refugee Agency, includes solar lamps among the core relief items it procures. Lighting should therefore be considered early when planning household assistance, alongside other essential supplies.
The practical value extends beyond visibility. UNHCR identifies solar lamps as a way for displaced people to continue activities such as cooking, studying, working and socialising after dark.
Plan household and community lighting together
A refugee camp lighting programme may need several complementary solutions
| Lighting need | Solution to assess | Key planning question |
| Household tasks and studying | Portable solar lamps or household lighting systems | Can the light cover the task area for the required hours? |
| Paths, toilets and shared facilities | Fixed community lighting | Where is coverage needed, and who will maintain it? |
| Schools, clinics and other service builidings | Lighting and power systems designed for the facility | What loads, operating hours and backup arrangements? |
UNHCR's settlement planning guidance identifies toilets, washing areas, public service areas and roads as priority locations to consider for solar lighting.
Portable lamps should form part of this wider assessment. A household lamp cannot provide the same coverage as a properly designed communal lighting system.
Support safety through community-led lighting decisions
Lighting can help people feel safer, but location and coverage matter.
A UNHCR assessment in Uganda's Rhino Camp found that residents reported greater feelings of safety in lit locations. It also identified concerns about travelling along unlit routes between homes and those locations. These findings underline the importance of assessing the whole journey.
Before purchasing equipment, work with protection and site management colleagues to consult women, girls, older people and people with disabilities. Ask where lighting is needed, which routes people avoid and whether proposed locations are accessible.
Make studying after dark a practical procurement requirement
Portable solar lamps can provide light for reading and homework after sunset. However, a solar lamp's usefulness depends on how well it supports the task.
Assess whether students can position the light over a book, whether glare makes reading uncomfortable and whether the lamp runs long enough at a useful brightness. Consider competing household needs too: one lamp may be shared between studying, cooking and caregiving.
Test samples with intended users before a large purchase where feasible. Ask them to demonstrate how they would carry, hang and position the lamp.
The programme objective should be usable study light. Claims about improved attendance or learning outcomes requires separate evidence.
What procurement teams should check before ordering solar lamps
Translate the needs assessment into requirement that suppliers can demonstrate.
Light output and runtime: Request runtime at each brightness setting. A headline maximum runtime may describe the lowest setting, which may not suit the intended task.
Charging conditions: Ask how charging performance was measured and assess whether residents have suitable places to position panels. Where phone charging is required, ask how it affects the energy available for lighting.
Durability and usability: Request evidence for resistance to water, dust and everyday handling. Check controls, carrying options and instructions with intended users.
Quality evidence: Request independent test reports for the exact solar lamp model offered, referencing the applicable parts and editions of IEC TS 62257. IEC TS 62257-9-5 specifies the laboratory test methods for evaluating stand-alone renewable energy products. Use documented results to assess suppliers' claims about brightness, runtime and durability against your tender requirements. For more on what to check, read BRIGHT's guide to solar lamp quality standards for humanitarian procurement.
Delivery and after-sales support: Confirm quantities, lead times, packaging, warranty arrangements and how faults will be resolved in the programme location.
Budget for continued use
Compare the total cost of delivering usable lighting over the programme period. Alongside the purchase price, include transport, distribution, user instruction, maintenance, replacement parts and end-of-life arrangements.
Ask who will manage faulty units and whether replacement batteries or other components will be available locally. A repairable design is most useful when the programme also has access to parts and people who can carry out repairs.
After distribution, gather feedback on charging difficulties, faults and whether lamps meet daily needs. Use these findings to improve subsequent orders.
Compare BRIGHT SunBell and Sol for household lighting needs
BRIGHT's SunBell and Sol provide solar lighting and mobile phone charging for households in refugee camps and displacement settlements. Both offer replaceable batteries and IP64-rated protection against dust and splashing water, with different designs to suit household routines.
SunBell combines room lighting, an adjustable task light and a detachable torch. Its flexible light unit allows users to direct illumination towards a book, cooking area or other task, making it an option for households that need several lighting functions in one product.
Sol provides evenly distributed, 360-degree light and a swivel handle for carrying, hanging or wall mounting. Available in Basic, Mid and High Capacity models, it gives procurements procurement teams a choice of battery capacities to match lighting duration and phone-charging needs. Its higher brightness settings also support reading and household tasks.
When selecting a humanitarian solar lamp, consider how families will position, share and charge it. assess SunBell for its adaptable lighting functions and Sol for its all-round illumination and range of capacities. Request current specifications for the exact models being compared, checking runtime at the brightness needed and how phone charging affects available lighting time.
Planning portable solar lamp deployment to a refugee camp or settlement ?
Contact BRIGHT to discuss your procurement requirements. Share your intended use, quantities, destination and delivery timeline, and request the technical documentation needed for your assessment.
