Designed and built for daily use in harsh conditions, with the ability to produce plenty of light for long sessions of working, preparing food, or reading after dark on a single day's charge, Nokero's latest offering is an affordable and effective solar light with a social mission.

Nokero (for 'no kerosene') has been in the business of creating clean lighting alternatives for the developing world since its inception in 2010, and since then has introduced several different models of solar lights and chargers, but its latest lays claim to being the "world's most efficient light."

According to the company, on a lumen-hours per watt of solar panel basis, the current generation of solar lights "typically achieve 300 lumen-hours per watt" but the technology in the new N233 is twice as efficient, as it "achieves an industry-leading 700 lumen-hours per watt."

Small enough to fit in a pocket, yet bright enough to be truly useful, and rugged enough to stand up to daily use under demanding conditions, the Nokero N233 is a versatile lighting solution for both emergency and offgrid use. The unit's battery, a 500 mAH lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) with an estimated life of more than 2000 charging cycles, is charged by a set of SunPower Maxeon solar cells, which deliver a full charge in 6 hours. The N233 can then produce 6 hours of light on the high setting (25 lumens), or 15 hours on the low setting (10 lumens), and retain a charge for up to 18 months.

The N233 can be held in the hand as a flashlight, hung from a clip on the top of the unit, or used as a table lamp with the included base, and its light weight (3oz/85g ) and small size (4.5"/11.4cm x 3.3"/8.3cm x 1.5"/3.8cm) make for a very packable light, whether it's for a backpacking trip, an emergency preparedness kit, or a daily carry bag.

At just $17.99, it's also an affordable accessory that helps to give light to those who truly need it, because with each US retail purchase, Nokero provides a light at no cost to a person or family in need, which helps them to break their dependence on kerosene (or diesel) as a lighting fuel. The company also sells what it calls the world's most affordable solar light, the N183, sold as an eight-pack for $59.99, which works out to $7.50 each for these 10 lumen lights.

Mai Linh