- Alfredo Moser uses plastic bottle filled with water, bleach and the principle of refraction to light up dark rooms during the day
- His invention will be fitted in over one million homes by the end of the year and he is credited with transforming people’s lives in poorer countries
- The mechanic came up with the idea for his ‘Moser light’ during one of the frequent blackouts in his home city of Uberaba, southern Brazil in 2002
A Brazilian mechanic has invented a way of lighting his house during the day without relying on electricity.
Alfredo Moser has been using plastic bottles filled up with water and a splash of bleach to illuminate dark rooms since 2002 and now the idea has now spread across the world.
It is predicted that his lighting system, which works using refraction of sunlight, will be fitted in over a million homes by the end of this year.
It is predicted that his lighting system, which works using refraction of sunlight, will be fitted in over a million homes by the end of this year
The secret of the liquid which fills normal plastic drinks bottles that are often thrown away, is two capfuls of bleach added to water, which stops it turning green with algae when exposed to sunlight.
Mr Moser drills a hole in a roof tile and then pushes the filled bottle in from below, keeping the bottle in place with polyester resin, which waterproofs the ‘window’ in his roof.
The secret of the liquid filling normal plastic drinks bottles that are often thrown away, is two capfuls of bleach added to the water to stop it turning green with algae as it is exposed to sunlight
Mr Moser drills a hole in a roof tile and then pushes the filled bottle in from below, keeping them in place with polyester resin, which waterproofs the ‘window’ in his roof
The mechanic came up with the idea for his ‘Moser light’ during one of the frequent blackouts in Brazil in 2002.
He said only factories had power in his home city of Uberaba, in southern Brazil during the energy shortage.
Mr Moser earned a few dollars installing the lights in his local super market and neighbours’ houses but his invention has not made him a wealthy man.
He said: ‘There was one man who installed the lights and within a month he had saved enough to pay for the essential things for his child, who was about to be born. Can you imagine?’
Carmelinda his wife said her husband has always been handy at home and have made tables and chairs.
Illac Angelo Diaz, executive director of the MyShelter Foundation in the Philippines also admires Mr Moser’s ingenuity.
The charity uses recycled materials to build houses and has plenty of bottle donations, which it fills with mud to build walls and water to create windows.
Mr Diaz believes over one million people have installed Moser lights in 2013 and credits the mechanic with transforming people’s lives.
‘Whether or not he gets the Nobel Prize, we want him to know that there are a great number of people who admire what he is doing,’ he said.
Mr Moser told the BBC he never imagined his invention would have such an impact but said it gives him goose bumps if he thinks how many people are using Moser lights.