Science in library
solar lamp
Our Founder and President Faith Chao envisioned the idea of one thousand lamps, one thousand smiling faces throughout rural China; these prophetic words were the inspiration for the Solar Lamp project. Evergreen developed a simple solar powered desk lamp and had it manufactured in China; then the lamps were delivered as a kit to schools in rural China where high school students did the final assembly as part of a classroom lesson. Charged by the sun in a single day, the lamp operates during 4 hours of nighttime study in houses with no electricity. Evergreen also created a Teacher’s Guide to assist the teachers with creating lesson and assessment plans, which combine academic lessons with participatory learning (laboratory or shop class). The suggested lessons included electricity basics, solar energy, battery, and semiconductor fundamentals. A key strategy for the Solar Lamp project was to find a development and manufacturing partner in China, who would finish development and do the manufacturing. Using our California Silicon Valley connections, we were able to connect with Innogetic Technologies of Zhuhai, Guangdong, an engineering development business. When Evergreen met with the company owner, Mr. ZC Wang whole heartedly supported Evergreen’s mission. After several weeks of cross-Pacific conference calls and concurrent engineering work in California and Guangdong, the lamp design was completed. The first production run of lamps destined for schools in Gansu and Shaanxi provinces was sent in January 2012. Evergreen visited these schools and worked with the teachers to deliver the first lessons. Lamps were donated to students in more remote areas including Qinghai Province.
Using corporate partnerships and projects like the Solar Lamp Kit, Evergreen plans to create more science and technology training subjects to introduce and motivate student interest to learn Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) job skills.
