SALt Lamp: Journey From Household To Households

When the Philippines hosted the APEC Meeting last November, Engr. Aisa Mijeno, a Filipina scientist, took the spotlight as US President Barack Obama and Alibaba founder Jack Ma lauded her invention, the SALt Lamp.

How did she come up with the idea of creating the SALt (Sustainable Alternative Lighting) Lamp? What’s the current status of her invention? Mijeno shared the details with the Philippines News Agency (PNA).

Years ago, she helped a colleague in conducting a survey for the three most common staple items seen in every Filipino household. They found out that these are water, salt and rice.

That led her to the idea of using salt as a practical means of activating a system and generating electricity, and create a portable lamp.

Being in the field of Science and Engineering, she said it has always been at the back of her mind — that salt water is an electrolyte that be used in a system to carry charged particles from one electrode to another. This is basic science, according to her.

While she had tried other forms of electrolytes to light a lamp, her invention ended up as a lamp that uses a glass of water and two tablespoons of salt. Ocean water can also be used to power up the lamp for about eight hours.

Creating this type of lamp is also in line with the core mission of SALt, the social enterprise that she co-founded and where she serves as chief executive officer (CEO).

SALt’s mission is to provide people in rural marginalized areas with cost-effective, safe and environment-friendly lighting option.

She started the study at around 2010, and the first prototype of her invention came in 2014. It was the time when her team was chosen by Ideaspace Philippines, a local incubator, to be one of the 10 incubatees in its program.

Cost effectiveness and durability

Using salt water or a saline solution could light the lamp for eight hours. SALT Lamp’s lifespan depends on handling and proper maintainance. “If you base it on LEDs, (it would last for) 100,000 hours or about 11 years,” she said.

Mijeno also noted that if the user intends to use the lamp everyday, he/she needs to replace a consumable inside the lamp every six months.

Is SALt Lamp cheaper or easier to maintain than solar lamps? She said it’s cheaper based on quality. The SALt CEO clarified, however, that they’re not competing against solar lamp because it falls under renewable energy (RE), and every RE technology is good news.

“You cannot buy high quality solar lamps that could last for years at a cheaper price,” she explained.

If it is easier to maintain, meanwhile, depends on the logistics. As a comparison, Mijeno cited that to maintain a solar lamp, one uses a battery that needs to be charged. “How affordable and available is the battery?” she asked.

She continued, “this is basically comparison of the consumables which will make it sustainable.” The engineer reiterated that SALt Lamp just needs salt water to make it functional for six months before the need to replace the consumable. How available is this consumable? Mijeno said they will try to make it available in every sari-sari store around the country. This will be their way of addressing the product’s sustainability. Also, she cited that this consumable is going to be very affordable.

If one would compare the efficacy of solar lamps versus SALt Lamp, Mijeno has this to say, “Solar lamps need the sun to be at its maximum efficiency. Yes, some solar cells have already adapted advancements in material Science and able to absorb particular parts of the light spectrum which means it doesn’t need direct sunlight anymore, but still, efficiency is cut off by 60 percent. This technology is dependent on a variable that users cannot control, while SALt Lamps only need salt water to activate and the planet is 70 percent of it.”

Status and government’s assistance

Department of Science and Technology – Technology Application and Promotion Institute (DOST-TAPI) told PNA that Mijeno presented her invention to them and the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) last June 17. In that meeting, DOST-TAPI suggested that she may apply under the agency’s Technology Innovation for Commercialization (TECHNICOM) program.

Mijeno then presented her invention to DOST-TAPI officials and staff last July 14. She was advised to avail first the prototype development assistance program, since one of the requirements to avail the TECHNICOM assistance is that the invention must be previously assisted by DOST or any of the DOST attached agencies.

Mijeno submitted a project proposal under the prototype development program last Nov. 16. She was requested to submit pertinent document requirements such as the letters patent or patent application, detailed budgetary requirements, among others. DOST-TAPI said Mijeno went to the office last Dec. 7 to present a powerpoint presentation of her SALt Lamp, but failed to bring the document requirements.

Mijeno told PNA she’s currently completing the agency’s requirements even though her SALt Lamp is already in commercialization phase and mass production.

“But we still do wish to be part of their program, maybe on the next practical application and product that we will be developing down our technology pipeline,” she noted.

She shared that for the prototyping program, DOST-TAPI offers a grant of up to Php 100,000. Once they avail the TECHNICOM, they will be assisted to take a leap through the commercialization stage by supporting some units of the lamp for field testing before the mass production for further improvement.

“Being qualified with the (TECHNICOM) program will give you Php 1.2 million grant. Anything beyond that amount will be in a form of loan,” she added.

Mijeno targets to launch the SALt Lamp this year. She, however, can’t finalize the price yet because this would mainly depend on the volume capacity of production, noting that the higher the volume, the lower the cost. She assured that SALt Lamp can be bought at an affordable price for many.

Will it be available everywhere in the country? “As much as possible, we wanted to have the lamp available everywhere, but that will take tremendous amount of time on logistics,” she answered.

SALt can partner with several distributors, but in the meantime, SALt Lamps will be available in limited locations until Mijeno’s team can scale it up for the next 2-3 years.

The lamps will also be exported. As to when this will happen, Mijeno said her team is still projecting the timeline and demand. (PNA) RMA/MCCA