Startup company Sustainable Alternative Lighting (SALt), aims to provide lighting in lower income homes across the world by offering a lamp powered by nothing more than salt and water.

According to a report from Tech in Asia, the idea began when engineer Aisa Mijeno was living with a Butbut tribe in the Philippines and noticed many Filipino families living off the grid with no electricity. She says that families needed to walk nearly 12 hours just to reach a town providing kerosene to fuel their lamps.

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This led the innovative engineer to create a much more practical alternative lighting system that doesn't require anything other than two natural ingredients - salt and water.

Although it sounds impossible, Mijeno points out that the idea isn't anything that hasn't already been taught in high school chemistry.

"If you did the lemon-battery experiment, that's basically it," said Mijeno. "Two different metals submerged in electrolytes will produce electricity. For us, we used salt water."

The salt water reportedly allows the lamp to make use of a low-LED bulb. By just dissolving two tablespoons of salt in a glass of water, and then pouring the liquid into the device, the lamp lights up for nearly eight hours and provides 90 lumens, which is about the same as seven candles or a low-LED bulb.

Furthermore, the lamp even provides a USB feature capable of charging a mobile phone. However, users will have to choose whether they want the device to provide light or to be used as a charger - it won't be able to do both at the same time.

The Startup Nations Summit, an event that showcases the finest tech startups from over 40 countries, has selected SALt to represent the Philippines. Voting for the best tech startup is currently available on the Startup Nations official website and ends on Nov. 14.

Mijeno hopes the publicity will introduce her product on an international level and soon provide low income homes worldwide with alternative lighting.

"Lack of electricity also persists in other countries like Indonesia (63 million of its population) and Myanmar (26 million)," she said in an interview with Tech in Asia. "We are hoping that they see value in our product."

TagsAlternative lighting, salt, salt and water powered lamp, Startup Nations Summit, Tech in asia