Electricity is a problem here. So is water, and so is the internet. That is true almost everywhere outside a city. We wanted to see how far we could get with small, cheap things.

A path lamp

In June 2021 the office was a tent on a wooden platform, with a table under a tarp.

A tent on a raised wooden platform under a blue tarp, with a small table and chair beside it
The tent office, June 2021.

To light the path at night without running a long mains cable through the trees, we made a lamp for under five dollars: two LEDs, a battery and a small solar panel inside a plastic bottle, on a piece of PVC pipe tied to a bamboo stick.

A plastic bottle lamp with a small solar panel on top, tied to a bamboo stick in front of a tent
The path lamp.

The hut

By the end of August there was a small hut with a thatched roof, running on its own power:

  • a 50-watt solar panel
  • a 36 amp-hour battery
  • a 600-watt inverter, for charging a laptop, a fan and the lights

With internet, a table, a chair, a whiteboard, a laptop and a phone, it was enough to work.

The inside of the hut at night, lit by a lamp, with a whiteboard covered in notes
Inside, at night.
The hut lit up at night, surrounded by darkness
The hut at night.

The next job on the list was to clean up around it and plant flowers and fruit trees.

Notes and photos were first posted on Rithy's Telegram channel: the path lamp, the office hut.