By Beverley Mitchell, Source: Inhabitat

For many people who lack access to electricity, the day ends when the sun goes down. But Philips aims to slowly change that through their Gift of Light program. Through it, employees first nominate communities around the world that are desperately in need of light and vote for the most deserving. Once these communities have been identified, employees then install energy-efficient solar-powered lights for both homes and roads. Thanh Son village in Vietnam is among the first communities to receive Philips’ life-changing technology, and further projects will be implemented across 17 countries in the coming months.

The village of Thanh Son is located in a remote rural area about 70 kilometers from Hanoi. For 30 years, village life in the largely off-grid community ended after sunset. But now a team of Philips employees have installed energy efficient LED solar powered lighting in 180 off-grid households and presented emergency LED battens and compact fluorescent lighting to a further 108 households where the electricity supply is intermittent. In addition, the company provided solar-powered road lighting for a play area at the village community center.

Read the rest at: Inhabitat