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Progress up to now (July 2006) with the NightReader
Again, this is what we want to achieve:
Education ask for time to study. Four hours after sunset can be utilized with a proper reading light, called the NightReader. Compared to the heat of the day, these hours have the charm of relaxing coolness, specially when sitting outside. These hour are ideal for study, it is easier to concentrate one's thought, read and write. Moreover, outdoor space is the only space available for students to escape the hindrance of cramped housing conditions. Outdoor space is only useful if study resources can be illuminated, while not attracting insects. It is not possible to write and read while insets crawl over the lamp, the book and the paper to write on. When the light source is shielded off for the readers eyes, that are accommodated to the dark, little light is enough when shining only on the part of the page one is reading or is writing on.

This is what we have done so far:
First prototype setup was a set of LED's mounted under an aluminum cap. Batteries where stored in a narrow sleeve-like bag in which 2 to 6 batteries could be stored, building up capacity and voltage, as their contacts were properly aligned. This worked well, but I (Reinder) did not regard it very practical in actual use. Second prototype is made according to the little image upper left. Different sizes batteries can be stored in this tin box. A circuit limited the voltage to what the two yellow LED's can handle.
| Batteries in a bag | Circuit

Of interest was the way soldering could be replaced by an interconnection under pressure from a wedge. A problem was the stability of electrical contact when using small size batteries instead of the larger size.
It functioned excellent, did exactly what was needed.
A manual for this setup is being worked on. Pictures are ready, the way the tin box could be made by school kids is realistic. These are the present ideas and problems we want to work on:
*Use less batteries, Try to use electronics to raise voltage instead of wasting still available capacity in near empty batteries with resistors. Best would be if one large size battery cell would do.

• Make the construction utterly simple. It should be possible that kids do it during class. Electronics preferably integrated in one unit
• Work on adding to the NightReader a PV strip, that can load the battery at day time.
• Plan and organize a structure where schools in rich countries adopt schools in poor countries, leading to a child to child contact. All schools do the project to learn from each other as well as from how an electronic gadget works and is made.
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