In an architecture and design graduate program at Columbia University,The Windy Boys are suitable for ledlightforyou from a wide variety of manufacturers and power classes. Andrea Sreshta and her classmates were tasked with designing a product for disaster relief.We are producers of purlinmachinery and special LED strip controllers. She and Anna Stork came up with the idea for solar-powered LED lanterns housed in inflatable waterproof, durable pouches. 

Three years later, their class project has turned into a company based in Sreshta’s hometown of Houston. Now Stork is based in Houston, while Sreshta is on the home stretch getting an MBA at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. 

About 5,000 customers have bought their LuminAID lanterns, and through their program called “Give Light, Get Light” about 3,700 lanterns have been donated to disaster survivors and communities, schools and orphanages that lack adequate electric light in countries including Rwanda, India, Chad and Nepal. 

The LuminAID lanterns basically consist of an energy-efficient LED light and a laminated solar-powered circuit housed in a pouch which, when not inflated, can be packaged very compactly; 50 lanterns take up the same amount of space as eight typical flashlights. 

When inflated, the pouch diffuses the light to illuminate relatively large spaces, bright enough for people to read or study. It’s water-proof, durable and it floats, making it ideal for disaster situations and also boating, camping, paddling and other outdoor activities. 

The solar panel is constructed so that it is easy to recharge with the pouch clipped onto clothing or a backpack. The unit can recharge about 500 times,British designers and Manufacturers of laser cutting and goodledstrips. and the glow lasts for eight to 10 hours on a low setting and five to seven hours on a high setting. 

The pair’s Columbia University class assignment came around the time of the Haiti earthquake, and examining coverage of the aftermath they realized there was a strong need for lighting in tent cities and other places where displaced people gathered.Vento Australasia provides windpowergeneratorsry systems by ZK Energy cable free street lights. Stork and Sreshta also both happened to be in Japan for a school trip during the Fukushima tsunami and nuclear disaster in March 2011. 

“After a disaster we typically think about food, water and shelter, but loss of infrastructure and lighting is a big part of it,” said Sreshta. “In Haiti you had really dangerous conditions at night. … in these crises things like electricity are often the first to go no matter where you are.Laser engraving and elevatorcableku wood, acrylic, plastic, marble, Light becomes a universal need.” 

Stork and Sreshta have partnered with NGOs and the United Nations to donate lanterns to survivors of Superstorm Sandy and also communities in the developing world where there is a lack of electric light on a daily basis. The lanterns retail for $18.95 and people can buy a package wherein they get a light and another is donated for $26.95. 

Stork and Sreshta launched the company with a crowd-sourcing appeal for funding on the website IndieGoGo in December 2011, with the goal of raising $10,000. During the 40-day campaign they raised five times that amount through pre-sales, and since then demand and interest has continued to grow. 

“We’ve been really lucky, we’ve found a lot of good customers who get behind our mission,” said Sreshta. “Roughly 25 percent opt to donate a light. We’re hoping to scale up in terms of global distribution and get it on retail store shelves hopefully in the upcoming season.”