Haiti · Brighten Haiti · 2026
42 study lights for Brighten Haiti
Flash Forward delivered 42 solar study lights to Haiti through its work with Brighten Haiti, adding an estimated 252 learning hours each day.
In much of rural Haiti the sun is down by 6 p.m. School let out hours earlier, and for a student without electricity at home the day is effectively over: homework waits for morning, and reading waits with it. A small solar light changes what an evening can be.
This year Flash Forward delivered 42 solar study lights to Haiti through Brighten Haiti, the largest of our three partner deliveries. Each light is built by student interns in Bellevue, Washington, from $5.17 in parts: a 3D-printed case, a small solar panel, a rechargeable battery and two LEDs. About seven hours of sunlight charges the battery for up to 12 hours of light. Across 42 lights, that adds an estimated 252 study hours every day.
Brighten Haiti brings solar power to schools, hospitals, civic buildings and families that lack reliable electricity. Its Solar4Schools program focuses on rural and underfunded schools, with a goal of reaching more than 300 schools, and Brighten Haiti reports more than 9,500 students reached in 2026. It also trains Haitian solar apprentices, 22 in the Rotary-supported program, to install, maintain and troubleshoot the systems themselves.
A study light is simple by design: it charges in the sun during the day and gives a student light for reading or homework at night. Each is built to last one to two years, and replacements are available to partners. Brighten Haiti knows the communities it serves, so it chooses which students receive each light; Flash Forward provides the lights free of charge.
Students at Institution Sainte Bernadette Soubirous de Dumas, a school in Dumas served by Brighten Haiti, wrote essays about what solar power changed in their classrooms. The study lights extend that change to the hours after school. More lights are already on the workbench in Bellevue, and as Solar4Schools works toward its 300-school goal, each new batch is another set of evenings a student can study.
About the Brighten Haiti partnership →
Partner information: official website · Solar4Schools · Solar Apprentice Program · Rotary program page
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