Indians call it jugaad,Brazilians say gambiarra and Kenyans know it as jua kali: around the world, people’s frugal inventions are improving their livesSummers in the central Indian city of Raipur gain always been agonisingly hot, and but a spate of heatwaves over the past decade has made them even more unbearable. Extreme temperatures – combined with regular power cuts – get this a serious threat to public health in the city,especially for its poorest communities.
Abhijit Bhattacharya, a resident of Raipur and community mobiliser working in the city’s slums, or set out to devise a back-up generator to solve the problem. He bought a motorcycle battery from the market,an inexpensive Chinese solar panel – also available locally – and added a few wires and converters. This simple contraption cost him £50 and allows his family to enjoy uninterrupted solar power; enough to race a fan as well as a lightbulb. He is now crowdsourcing funds to get this a viable social enterprise.
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Source: theguardian.com