Regardless, $5 seems doable. Rechargeable batteries are cheap. LED lights are dirt cheap. Solar panels are pricey, but I see some 1W ones for under $5 on Amazon, which means they probably cost $1-2 in bulk.
Given that, around here anyway, solar powered "night lights" for use outdoors are very prevalent and only set you back about a dollar a piece... $5 certainly seems very possible.
Now these lights I'm talking about are really quite dim (and omni-directional), but they really are disgustingly cheap as well.
A product designed to be of practical use rather than almost purely for decoration, and at 5x the price point, would most likely fare a lot better.
Edit: Would "likely" fare better? Obviously it does. I seem to have lost track of the point I was trying to make, namely the price. XD
Looks like they don't have the new model, the A1 Solar Lantern, on Amazon yet. The one for $47.95 is bigger (16 hours of light instead of 4 hours) and has a USB charger to charge a phone.
I found the opening line of this article confusing, and, overall, wish this article went into some degree of technical detail, even just a brief blurb about battery life and how they managed to keep the price down (I suspect it may be heavily subsidized). It seemed a bit more masturbatory than actually interesting because of this lack of detail.
I feel that the Gravity Light is the way to go because it can work throughout the whole night. It is totally independent of Sun or any weather conditions.
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[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 47.8 ms ] threadhttp://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-build-a-SOLAR-BOTTLE-...
[1] http://www.amazon.com/d-light-Rechargeable-S300-Lantern-Char...
[2] http://www.amazon.com/d-light/b/ref=bl_dp_s_web_3023737011?i...
http://www.amazon.com/Weiheng®1pc-181ma-Solar-Module-Charger...
http://www.amazon.com/Weiheng®1-1w-183ma-Solar-Module-Charge...
Now these lights I'm talking about are really quite dim (and omni-directional), but they really are disgustingly cheap as well.
A product designed to be of practical use rather than almost purely for decoration, and at 5x the price point, would most likely fare a lot better.
Edit: Would "likely" fare better? Obviously it does. I seem to have lost track of the point I was trying to make, namely the price. XD
Link with more info on the A1, including specs: http://www.dlight.com/solar-lighting-products/single-functio...
There are bottles that refracts light in liquid invented by a Brazilian car mechanic Alfredo Moser.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2393454/Brazi...
http://gravitylight.org/