Sun King Pro SK-301 Solar Lantern

Target SDGs

Market Suggested Retail Price

$49.95

Target Users (Target Impact Group)

Household

Distributors / Implementing Organizations

The lamp is deployed by Greenlight Planet's village-level direct sellers, Kopernik, Flipkart.com, Amazon.com. Living Goods also distributes this product.

Competitive Landscape

Direct competitors include d.Light D30, MPOWERD Luci Original, Nokero N200, d.Light S2, and ToughStuff Desk Lamp Kit.

Regions

Worldwide

Manufacturing/Building Method

Mass produced.

Intellectural Property Type

Select Type

User Provision Model

The lamp can be purchased through the Greenlight Planet website, Kopernik, Flipkart.com, Amazon.com and other retailers. Greenlight Planet products are currently available in over 20 countries globally, managed out of offices in India, China and resellers such as SunPower Africa. Greenlight Planet’s sales channel is comprised of village-level direct sellers, called Sun King Saathis, who sell products in their local communities.

Distributions to Date Status

Unknown (Greenlight Planet has reached 1,500,000 households across norther India)

Design Specifications

Design

Water-sealed lamp and stand, industrial-grade photovoltaic technology with improved cloudy-day charging. Permanently roof-mountable solar panel with aluminum frame and 5-meter cord. Multi-cell-battery cell balancing for extended battery life. Microprocessor-based active charge controller prevents over-charging or deep discharge of battery. Smart battery management technology automatically switches out of high power modes when battery is running low, yielding five additional hours of low power light. Single 1-watt powered LED with heat sink. 5-volt nominal power output port.

• Battery: Lithium Ferro-Phosphate (LFP), 140mAH, 1800 cycles at 100% depth of discharge.

• Solar panel: 2.5Wp, 7.8V polycrystalline solar module with 5-m wire.

• Detachable solar panel with 5-meter cable.

• 5-volt nominal power output port and 6 phone adapters.

• LCD screen indicating the number of hours of light remaining.

Technical Support

Technical support not identified. As it is provided by village level direct sellers support can be available through local sellers. Otherwise any repairs and replacements while under warranty can be addressed to Greenlight Planet directly.

Replacement Components

No maintenance required. Manufacturing defects covered under 1 year manufacturer's warranty

Lifecycle

1 year manufacturer warranty. Disposal not specified but of most concern is the battery, electronic components and the solar panel.

Manufacturer Specified Performance Parameters

Performance targets

• Bed light mode: 20 lumens, 30 hours of light or 15hours of light after charging phone fully.

• Normal power: 40 lumens, 12 hours of light or 6 hours of light after charging phone
fully.

• Turbo power: 100 lumens, 6 hours of light or 3 hours of light after charging phone
fully.

• Battery: Lithium Ferro-Phosphate (LFP), 140mAH, 1800 cycles at 100% depth of discharge.

• Five years of daily performance (2000 cycles) and five year battery life. LEDs 10-year life (15000 hours).

Vetted Performance Status

From the Lighting Global Standardized Specifications Sheet: • Lumen output (maximum): 110 • Lumen output at 2000 hours (maximum): 110 • Lamp type (LED, CFL, etc.): LED • Run time (maximum): 15 hours "normal", 6 hours "Turbo" • Battery Capacity (amp-hours): 1.45 amp-hours • Battery Protection (charge controller, cell balancing, etc.): Active HVD and LVD, individual cell balancing Additionally, the Comprehensive Initiative on Technology Evaluation (CITE) at MIT evaluated personal-use solar lanterns available on the market in Uganda and published the results in January 2015. The SunKing Pro received the highest score of 88/100. Full findings are available in their report and as a snapshot synopsis is available in the image included here.

Safety

No listed hazards.

Complementary Technical Systems

Some users have commented that selling the lantern head separately for those that already have the panel for charging could be a good idea, improving the battery life along with increasing the charging compatibility for additional cell phone types.

Academic Research and References

Compliance with regulations

IEC Technical Specification 62257-9-5 which is informed by Lighting Global's three complementary sets of test methods —the Quality Test Method (QTM), the Initial Screening Method (ISM), and the Market Check Method (MCM). Factory certification- ISO 9001:2000.

Evaluation methods

The Quality Test Method (QTM) is the full test method used to verify comprehensive product performance. Results from QTM testing are used to determine if a product has met the Lighting Global Minimum Quality Standards.

Lighting Global Durability tests passed: Drop test, switch cycling, physical ingress

protection test, and protection from frequent rain.

The Comprehensive Initiative on Technology Evaluation (CITE) at MIT evaluated personal-use solar lanterns according to comparative framework for evaluation of products, similar to the model used by the U.S. nonprofit organization Consumer Reports along the dimensions of Suitability, Scalability, and Sustainability. Students and faculty collected data on 11 solar lantern models from both field and laboratory tests, as well as through interviews, surveys, and participant observation of product users and Solar Sister distribution agents.

Other Information

None