@Joseph Lau: You make good points, but you are contradicting yourself a little. You say they don't need electricity, then go on to say we need to "help them sustain their basic infrastructures like water, sanitation and electricty supply first..." This innovation addresses that last point rather well.

Also, I would argue that production would, in fact, start increasing overnight.

@Gann: We have to look at the whole of the situation though. For example, some nations in Africa isn't too worried about electricity or lack thereof just because they really haven't developed the dependence of it as we developed nations have. They don't particularly need light at night because their working habits are that they just stop working when the sun goes down and wake up when the sun goes up. That same economy had been successful for thousands of years before even the candle was first used. I really don't think the whole of Africa would drastically increase in productivity overnight if this kind of technology were to be introduced to them.

I'm all for them learning to use new technologies, but at the right time. I would say help the developing nations sustain their basic infrastructures like water, sanitation and electricity supply first, then move on to roads and buildings, then we can talk more about new technologies and the conveniences that they provide. #printedsolarled

@License_to_iLL: a self contained, self sufficient light source that works at night is a relatively advanced piece of technology. Especially taking into consideration that these are paper thin sheets.

Interestingly enough, I'm surprised this hasn't been commercialized for use in peoples homes in 1st and 2nd world countries. I know if I could get my hands on 400 or 500 sqft of low cost solar panels that I could place on the roof of my house to reduce my electrical costs/carbon footprint, I would jump on it. #printedsolarled