Granddad's plan to light up Lanka

UK: A heartbreaking visit to Sri Lanka after the tsunami has inspired 62-year-old Tony Newton to invent an eco-friendly solar-powered lighting system, which he hopes will one day illuminate the homes of thousands of people around the world.

Grandfather-of-two Tony, visited his parents' native Sri Lanka soon after the tsunami. It left him depressed but determined to do something.

"There was no electricity and I saw villagers depending on dim and dangerous paraffin lanterns to light their homes. It started me thinking," he said.

Newton, who lives with his wife Yogi, who works at St Mark's Hospital in Maidenhead, has invented a system of solar-powered lights which can produce enough brightness to illuminate a large room when a rechargeable battery is connected to a solar panel.

It needs more sunlight than Britain can provide to function effectively, but he hopes it could overcome the affordability problem of electricity for people living in sunlit areas of the world such as Sri Lanka.

He said: "I do not expect to make money out of this. I am hoping companies will come forward to sponsor houses to have my system installed and I will install it myself." "I have paid my mortgage off, my business is ticking over, I have a wonderful family, I'm happy as I am," he said.