Solar lantern for people living without electricity
Panasonic Corporation today announced that it has developed a solar lantern that doubles as a charger for people living without electricity. With a built-in rechargeable battery to store solar energy during the day, the lantern provides light at night and can also be used as a power source to charge small mobile devices like mobile phones. The company plans to bring the lantern to the market in autumn this year after conducting marketing research in off-grid areas in Asia and Africa. A prototype of the new solar lantern will be displayed at official side events at the 5th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) to be held from June 1 to 3, 2013 in Yokohama. Panasonic will introduce the product to a variety of stakeholders joining the TICAD V.