As Bill Clinton said, “It’s quite extraordinary, really; you kick a ball and turn on a light.”

This is all about a ball of energy, a soccer ball of energy.

The two entrepreneurial American women, Julia Silverman and Jessica Matthews, who had the idea, thought to “put a mechanism inside the ball that harnesses the kinetic energy that is generated during play, and then stores it as electrical energy.” Jessica Matthews goes on to explain: “So imagine any motion, anything that you do — that’s pretty much kinetic energy. We harness that and store it in a basic battery and then you can carry around the ball anywhere and plug in a lamp, plug in a cellphone charger and access reliable power.” If you play with the ball for 30 minutes, about 3 hours of light can be generated when a LED lamp is plugged into a small socket in the ball.

The ball cannot be inflated or deflated and is a bit harder than regular soccer balls. That’s so it can withstand the harsh conditions of the fields and playing areas where it is kicked around, in places where many people don’t have access to electricity.

This simple but bright idea can bring light to millions.