Sol: The proven portable solar lamp for humanitarian aid, emergency preparedness & off-grid contexts

The cheapest solar lamp is often the most expensive mistake. Cheap low-quality portable solar lamps lead to replacement cycles, delayed distribution, and increased operational risk.

With so many options on the market, selecting a solar lamp is a high-stakes decision for procurement teams. Unit price matters, but total cost of ownership, reliability, and scalability matter more.

Sol, BRIGHT’s next-generation solar lamp – engineered from the ground up for the conditions, constraints, and demands of humanitarian response – delivers consistent performance across diverse environments, logistics efficiency at scale, and reduced total cost of ownership.

Between 2024 and 2025, Sol was deployed across Uganda, Ukraine, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and China. What those deployments reveal, across a broad spectrum of operational realities, is a product that performs consistently where performance matters most.

Uganda: Lighting high-density displacement settings

The most rigorous on-the-ground evidence comes from Bidibidi refugee settlement in Uganda, one of the largest in the world. In May 2025, BRIGHT, in collaboration with IOM and Innovation Norway, distributed 300 Sol Mid Capacity lamps to Neighbourhood Watch Teams across the settlement. A monitoring and evaluation exercise conducted in July 2025 surveyed 140 households to assess real-world performance.

The results were unambiguous:

• 98.6% of respondents said Sol was easy to use
• 77% reported improved household lighting
• 51% reported reduced lighting costs, with 35% reporting reduced reliance on kerosene and candles
• 42% reported that reading and studying had become easier
• 99.3% said they would recommend Sol to others

The typical household in Bidibidi has between five and ten members. Sol was reported as sufficiently bright and useful even across these households where lighting resources must be shared, a demanding baseline that many portable solar lamps fail to meet.

Simon Droti, who manages the Mercy Corps Innovation Centre with Bidibidi and has used BRIGHT products for years, described Sol Mid Capacity as standing out for its brightness, battery performance, and ease of use. He says families in the settlement typically rely on Sol for six to seven hours each evening.

The impact in Bidibidi extended beyond household illumination. Sol was credited with reducing incidents of snake bites and scorpion stings in poorly lit areas; enabling students to study at home rather than travelling to distant communal lighting points; and improving safety for young girls moving after dark.

Ukraine: Reliable back-up lighting for emergency shelters, schools

In summer 2025, BRIGHT deployed 306 Sol High Capacity and Sol Mid Capacity lamps across bomb shelters and school shelters in Kyiv, Kherson, and Kharkiv, Ukraine in partnership with local organisations Smart Kids, Support Kherson, and the Relief Coordination Centre.

At the time, energy infrastructure across Ukraine was unstable and repeatedly disrupted due to regular targeting by Russia. Lighting in many shelters depended on limited generator use, mobile phones and flashlights. Following deployment, shelter coordinators and teachers reported that spaces remained consistently lit during outages, enabling safe movement, and in school shelters, uninterrupted teaching. One shelter coordinator noted: “It is the first time we have light that we don’t have to worry about during blackouts.”

Latin America: Off-grid lighting for informal and transitional housing

In Latin America, TECHO – a youth-led non-profit organisation that works in informal settlements to improve housing and living conditions – piloted Sol in emergency and transitional housing contexts in Colombia, Chile, Mexico, and Peru.

TECHO’s shelters, typically 18 m² structures built for families of four to five people, often remain in use for three to eight years. Depending on the location, grid connection can take months to years. Sol shines in these situations, the portable solar lamp delivers immediate off-grid lighting, giving users a solution which can give them essential light and phone charging until they can access grid power.

Residents in Peru reported that Sol delivered stable, flicker-free light throughout the evenings. They also noted economic savings from reduced spending on candles and informal electricity arrangements. Durability in conditions involving dust, heat, and frequent handling was identified as a key factor in its favour.

China: Supporting education in communities with limited electricity access

In March 2025, BRIGHT donated 60 Sol Basic Capacity lamps to Zhaojue Nationality Middle School in Lianshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. The school is nestled in a mountainous rural area with an unstable grid and limited reliable electricity in the surrounding countryside where many students originate.

The school serves Grade 8 students aged 12 to 14. Prior to the donation, evening study was constrained by a lights-out policy in dormitories; students relying on small battery-powered flashlights after the overhead lights were switched off. The result was inconsistent light, eye strain, and limited study time.

Following the deployment, the impact on study behaviour was direct and measurable. Students reported their average evening study time increased from approximately one hour to around two hours – enabled by Sol’s stable, flicker-free output across multiple brightness settings. Teachers noted improved concentration and homework quality, attributing this to the consistency of a dedicated light source.

The lamp was used daily, charged whenever sunlight was available by placing the portable solar panel on classroom or dormitory windowsills. One student described the difference: Sol is “more stable and does not flicker like a flashlight, the light is softer and comfortable.” Students also reported using Sol at weekends at home, where family members benefitted from both the light and the USB charging capability.

The China deployment illustrates Sol’s relevance beyond acute emergency response. The solar lamp can be used in development contexts where unreliable energy access constrains education. In these locations, a durable, low-maintenance solar lamp can extend productive hours for communities with little margin for equipment failure or recurring battery costs.

The procurement case: Reducing risk and total cost of ownership

Across multiple deployments, Sol delivers:

• Consistent field performance
• Reduced operational risk
• Lower total cost of ownership
• High logistics efficiency

For procurement teams, this translates to:

• Fewer replacements
• Lower distribution costs
• Reliable programme execution