Solar lamp fits onto endless 3D printed accessories

SULI is a personal, modular, solar lighting system which is designed to fit easily with any number of 3D printed accessories.

Nearly one in seven people around the world don’t have access to electricity but innovative design products such as Repurpose school bags have shown the massive potential for solar panels to provide a renewable light source, capturing the energy of the sun for use at night. Now, SULI is a modular, portable solar lighting system which is designed to fit easily with any number of 3D printed accessories — making it adaptable to the user’s needs.

Each SULI can be charged through exposure to the sun for about eight hours, after which it can provide five meters of light reach for up to 50 hours. The module itself is a portable, self-contained disc designed to be connected easily to a variety of other objects including PET bottles, bike handlebars or windows, via affordable, 3D printed parts. Sulilab, the team behind SULI are keen to democratize the use of solar power — they have created an open source platform enabling users to create further accessories which they can share with others, and bring to life with their own 3D printing equipment. They have also launched a project deploying SULI modules in Boutin, Haiti in partnership with America Solidaria.

SULI is currently crowdfunding on Indiegogo, where pledgers can buy one SULI for themselves and donate one to Haiti for USD 85. They are also packages which include attachments such as the 3D printed bike and hanging accessories. The first devices will be delivered in April 2016. How else could 3D printing be used to make new products more adaptable?