Major blackouts have been occuring recently in Latin America, the BBC News reports.

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Reports from AVODEC have shown that 30 additional lamps have been distributed since October 2009 when the 2009 phase of the TegaLamp project began.  Below are pictures from distribution efforts.

During Vance & Patrick’s visit to Nicaragua, we were able to visit Zach McDade’s Solar Education project site in Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua.  All lamps used in this study were found to be working and in good order.

The Bright New Ideas TegaLamp 2009 Project, sponsored by St. Edward’s Church in Bloomington, Minnesota is underway, with over 60 solar lamps having been delivered to AVODEC in Nicaragua.  Initial feedback is positive, especially with regard to the solar lamps sturdiness and increased level of light intensity and duration.

Tragedy in Tanzania as several students were killed in a fire caused by a candle used for studying at night.

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Here is a report from Zach McDade of Macalester College about his summer work in Nicaragua with Bright New Ideas.

You can follow the development of Patrick’s solar LED in previous posts; my story takes them to the people in Nicaragua!I’m Zach, a senior at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, and I’m spending the summer in rural Nicaragua, testing the solar LEDs in homes with no electricity and often no light at all.I have several goals, the most important of which is to bring light to poor, rural families. Additionally, I will test the economic validity of the LEDs as a means for altering incentives for investment in human capital.In other words, if families get use of the LEDs conditional on ensuring that their kids attend school 85% of the time, will the lights end up changing behavior? How will they work compared to cash, an already proven mechanism?I just got to Nicaragua and I’ve been in Managua since I got here. Over the next few weeks I will be making my way up north to the rural communities. Stay posted for developments!

Bright New Ideas is working with Grupo Fenix of the National Nicaraguan Engineering University and Macalester College of Saint Paul, Minnesota this summer starting early June to study the effects of solar lamps on rural non-electrified families’ access to education.  This study will go through August of 2009 and will include a followup next year.

A new solar-LED project by Patrick Delaney, Bright New Ideas founder has made it into the finalist round of a prestigious competition known as the Collegiate Inventor’s Competition, which is put on by the US Patent Office and the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame.

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Minneapolis Star Tribune blog post about our entry