WATCH: Lantern made from waste

A University of Zimbabwe electric engineering graduate Aluwaine Manyonga (25), has come up with an exciting and innovative concept that may see many homes across the country beaming with light.

The chigubhu lantern, as Manyonga calls it, is made of plastic bottles and waste material from led lights and is powered by solar.

“The main aim was to provide light for students everywhere in the country,” said Manyonga.

Exhibiting his contraption at the European Union stand at the just-ended Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF), Manyonga said he was concerned with the way students were no longer productive.

“The education sector is compromised as many students are no longer productive because of issues to do with power generation. Even those in rural areas are not productive when the sun goes down,” said Manyonga.

He said his unique lighting system uses up-cycled plastic bottles and discarded lights, while components making up the lights are fixed to circuits which would have been broken, and plastic bottles to replace the glass housing.

“The lights are battery powered and are charged using solar energy. The chigubhu lantern is made from electronic waste and the major waste being from LED lighting and 3.7V lithium-ion batteries.

The lantern is then housed in plastic waste bottles,” said Manyonga.

The chigubhu lantern comes with a centralised solar charger that allows charging of multiple lanterns at once.

“I wish to teach other students how to make this to protect and further develop our education sector,” said Manyonga.

He said after completing his Advanced Levels he had two choices, either to pursue a degree in computer engineering or engineering.

“When undertaking my first year I learnt about lighting software and this is where the chigubhu lantern idea emanated,” said Manyonga.

He said he wanted not only to make an impact in his community, but also in the world.

“I wanted to create something that would make a real impact in the world. This is when I developed a concept that seeks to provide an off-grid lighting solution for education in Africa,” he said.

“I wanted to develop a low-cost solution that used solar power to deliver a clean, reliable light source.

The result was the chigubhu lantern. Chigubhu is a Shona word meaning plastic container and this relates to the core principle of my proposal around plastic and electronic recycling.”